1. Evidence before scores
The 96 criteria are a research checklist, not a direct average. 88 map to ten attributes; eight inform valuation and usage context. Each has one primary home, without extra weight for more criteria.
SOUND MONEY / PRIMARY RANKING
Rank the money. Then examine the price.
One monetary framework, explicit weights and traceable evidence. Market cap, returns and exchange counts do not enter this ranking.
9 projects · 96 research criteriaFramework updated October 11, 2026; existing scores and evidence retain their own dates.
The 96-item framework is live. Attribute scores retain their existing review basis; new criteria need evidence and do not automatically add points.
Inspect and adjust all 10 weights
Default: distribution 25%, stability 20%, privacy 20%, each other axis 5%. These are editorial preferences, not uniquely objective weights.
No conclusive overall winner yet
Monero has the leading supported lower bound (53.8) under these weights, but other uncertainty ranges overlap. Position is not proven overall superiority.
Descending composite lower bound · ties share rankSelect any property score for evidence · — means unknown
| Rank | Money / research status | Composite range/100 | Score coverage | Distribution neutrality25% | Purchasing-power stability20% | Privacy & fungibility20% | Risks & next step |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Evidence 2026-09-29 | 53.8–78.8Ordered by lower bound, not midpoint | 75%8/10 scored | No flagged authority blocker; not safety-certified Mechanisms & potentialThen examine valuation | |||
| 2 | Evidence 2026-09-29 | 43.8–68.8Ordered by lower bound, not midpoint | 75%8/10 scored | No flagged authority blocker; not safety-certified Mechanisms & potentialThen examine valuation | |||
| 3 | Evidence 2026-09-29 | 38.8–63.8Ordered by lower bound, not midpoint | 75%8/10 scored | No flagged authority blocker; not safety-certified Mechanisms & potentialThen examine valuation | |||
| 4 | Evidence 2026-09-29 | 37.5–62.5Ordered by lower bound, not midpoint | 75%8/10 scored | Distribution costs · optional privacy Mechanisms & potentialThen examine valuation | |||
| 5 | Evidence 2026-09-29 | 35.0–60.0Ordered by lower bound, not midpoint | 75%8/10 scored | No flagged authority blocker; not safety-certified Mechanisms & potentialThen examine valuation | |||
| 6 | Evidence 2026-09-29 | 33.8–58.8Ordered by lower bound, not midpoint | 75%8/10 scored | No flagged authority blocker; not safety-certified Mechanisms & potentialThen examine valuation | |||
| 7 | Evidence 2026-09-29 | 17.5–72.5Ordered by lower bound, not midpoint | 45%6/10 scored | Demand & validation unmeasured Mechanisms & potentialThen examine valuation | |||
| 8 | Evidence 2026-09-29 | 16.3–71.3Ordered by lower bound, not midpoint | 45%6/10 scored | Supply & distribution gaps Mechanisms & potentialThen examine valuation | |||
| — | Evidence 2026-09-29 | 28.8–58.8Authority review; no rank | 70%7/10 scored | Upgrade powers unresolved · rank withheld Mechanisms & potentialThen examine valuation |
The lower bound accumulates scored contributions; the upper bound allows all possible unscored contributions. Unknowns are not assessed as zero, and these are not statistical confidence intervals. Coverage measures scored weight, not correctness probability.
From 96 questions to one main ranking
2. Shared rubric & denominator
Each attribute uses the published 0–4 rubric and normalized weight. Initial bands are editorial judgments, not a mechanical sum of 88 questions; attributes may still correlate.
L = Σ(w × s/4) / Σw × 100U = L + 100 × unscored weight share3. Do not average away blockers
Flagged material upgrade-authority risks require separate review. Rank is withheld pending reconciliation, while scores and research stay visible. No flag does not mean no risk.
4. Good money is not a cheap asset
Study cap, float, dilution and depth on the valuation page; none improves this score. Links retain weights; the legacy cap-blended index is only a secondary scenario screen.
Inspect all 96 primary mappings and scoring rubrics
Supply credibility
0 discretionary issuance; 1 weak constraints; 2 major rule gaps; 3 predictable continuing issuance; 4 explicit finite issuance. This axis favors a finite supply, not a purchasing-power outcome.
- 03.01 · Issuance rules
- 03.03 · Predictability
- 03.04 · Supply accounting
- 03.05 · Cap and tail issuance
- 03.06 · Monetary hardness
- 03.08 · Discretion
Purchasing-power preservation
Six projects now have a common U.S. CPI real-return sample. Cross-basket robustness and 0–4 thresholds remain undefined, so bands stay unknown.
- 01.01 · Store of value
- 02.01 · Benchmark
- 02.03 · Long-term preservation
Purchasing-power stability
Six projects have aligned historical purchasing-power, volatility and drawdown data; common 0–4 thresholds are still undefined. Mechanisms and future potential receive separate conditional analysis. Scoring history does not require proving future stability.
- 01.03 · Unit of account
- 02.02 · Short-term price
- 02.04 · Volatility
- 02.05 · Purchasing-power stability
- 02.06 · Demand-shock resilience
- 02.07 · Supply-shock resilience
- 03.07 · Monetary elasticity
- 10.08 · Conditional payments
- 11.05 · Native pricing
Distribution neutrality
0 exclusive allocation; 1 designated issuance beneficiaries; 2 mining with launch or ownership gaps; 3 relatively documented open issuance history; 4 independently verified history and beneficial ownership.
- 03.02 · Seigniorage
- 05.01 · Premine
- 05.02 · Founder allocation
- 05.03 · Insider allocation
- 05.04 · Launch accessibility
- 05.05 · Ongoing issuance access
- 05.06 · Ownership concentration
- 05.07 · Intergenerational access
- 05.08 · Benefit distribution
Censorship resistance
0 central permission; 1 prominent filter point; 2 open broadcast with visible targeting clues; 3 default privacy limits targeting; 4 supported by measurements across attack scenarios.
- 06.02 · Permissionlessness
- 06.03 · Censorship resistance
- 06.06 · Geographic neutrality
- 12.05 · Regulatory access points
Privacy & fungibility
0 ordinary transfers public; 1 limited-field protection or visible boundaries; 2 optional shielding of parties and amounts; 3 strong default protection with notable exceptions; 4 mandatory multi-field protection for ordinary transfers. No level implies absolute anonymity.
- 07.01 · Sender privacy
- 07.02 · Recipient privacy
- 07.03 · Amount privacy
- 07.04 · Graph privacy
- 07.05 · Selective disclosure
- 07.06 · Fungibility
- 07.07 · Taint resistance
- 07.08 · Default privacy
Self-sovereignty
0 mandatory custody; 1 severely restricted exit; 2 permission-dependent self-custody; 3 self-custody with specific dependencies; 4 native key custody and an independent-node path. Protocol capability does not guarantee practical access.
- 06.01 · Self-custody
- 06.04 · Seizure resistance
- 06.05 · Exit rights
- 06.07 · Key recovery
- 10.05 · Portability
- 10.06 · Availability
- 10.07 · Offline and weak connectivity
- 12.04 · Dependency risk
- 12.08 · Reserve risk
- 12.09 · Redemption risk
Independent verifiability
0 unauditable issuance; 1 one authority; 2 incomplete critical validation; 3 independently verifiable proofs or extension rules; 4 directly inspectable public amounts and transactions. This axis favors audit directness, not superior security.
- 08.01 · Supply audit
- 08.02 · Transaction verification
- 08.03 · Full-node accessibility
- 08.04 · Cryptographic assumptions
- 08.05 · Trusted setup
- 08.07 · Software verification
- 12.01 · Protocol complexity
- 12.02 · Programming flexibility
- 12.03 · Contract attack surface
Settlement security
0 unilateral reversal; 1 limited consensus assurance; 2 verifiable PoW with unmeasured economic security; 3 more documented rules and operating history; 4 aligned attack-cost and operational measurements.
- 01.02 · Medium of exchange
- 01.04 · Programmability
- 09.01 · Consensus security
- 09.02 · Double-spend resistance
- 09.03 · Finality
- 09.04 · Reorganization resistance
- 09.05 · Security budget
- 09.06 · Liveness
- 09.07 · Long-term security
- 09.08 · Transaction ordering
- 09.09 · Cross-layer settlement
- 10.01 · Settlement cost
- 10.02 · Settlement time
- 10.03 · Throughput
- 10.04 · Divisibility
- 11.03 · Acceptance
- 11.04 · Merchant adoption
- 11.07 · Network effects
- 12.07 · Historical resilience
- 12.10 · Maintenance capacity
Monetary governance
0 unilateral control; 1 dominant control point; 2 open proposals or code with influence gaps; 3 more documented public change procedures; 4 empirically established dispersed checks and accountability.
- 04.01 · Rule credibility
- 04.02 · Immutability
- 04.03 · Upgrade process
- 04.04 · Governance capture
- 04.05 · Emergency powers
- 04.06 · Founder dependence
- 04.08 · Decision transparency
- 04.09 · Power sunset
- 08.06 · Client diversity
- 12.06 · Infrastructure concentration
Valuation & usage context · no monetary points
- 02.08 · Quote reliability
- 04.07 · Development stage
- 11.01 · Liquidity
- 11.02 · Market depth
- 11.06 · Financial integration
- 11.08 · Peer comparison
- 11.09 · New markets
- 11.10 · Switching costs
The current rubric has explicit preferences: finite issuance, audit directness, and correlated censorship/privacy criteria. These assumptions are disclosed, not universal truths. New candidates receive no invented score or rank.