Minswap and Ergo vs CoinMarketCap

In the cryptocurrency realm, data accuracy and transparency are paramount, as highlighted in the disputes between Minswap and Ergo regarding how their data is represented on CoinMarketCap. This article delves into their experiences, uncovering the intricacies of data representation in the crypto space. These narratives also spotlight contentious pricing disputes and potential biases, adding layers of complexity to the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

Minswap’s Struggle with CoinMarketCap

CoinMarketCap’s data for token volume on Minswap has been plagued with issues since the first half of 2023. Despite Minswap’s persistent outreach to CoinMarketCap to address the problem, it remains unresolved. After months of unanswered support tickets, Minswap took to Twitter to voice their concerns, hoping for a response. Despite going public with their issues and offering solutions, CoinMarketCap has neither resolved nor acknowledged the problem. In a surprising turn of events, months later, CoinMarketCap finally responded to Minswap, suggesting that they pay $50,000 for “CMC Priority,” a tiered fee customer service model.

According to General Purrito from the Minswap team, CoinMarketCap declined to use Minswap’s API and insisted on using their own incompatible “solution.” They made it clear that they would not address the issue unless Minswap paid them an exorbitant $50,000, a demand seen as unreasonable by Minswap.

Refusing to settle, Minswap suggested that the Cardano community use CoinGecko to track token volume. CoinGecko, which has implemented Minswap’s API and supported the Cardano ecosystem, has become a viable alternative. CoinMarketCap’s response to these allegations has been notably absent, despite our attempts to reach out for comment.

Challenges Faced by Ergo

Ergo, a UTXO based Proof-of-Work blockchain, faced its own difficulties with CoinMarketCap. The platform consistently displayed incorrect data regarding the circulating supply of ERG, the native token of the Ergo blockchain. Despite multiple attempts to resolve this issue with CMC, the Ergo Foundation found no solution. Tensions escalated when CoinMarketCap attempted to charge the Ergo Foundation $5,000 to fix the data issue.

We asked Glasgow, a member of the Ergo Foundation, if the issue with ERGs circulating supply and Market Cap were resolved after Ergo Foundation had submitted an API to CMC. Glasgow advised, “No it was resolved after we took their pay2play scheme public and they finally fixed it after 2 years of us providing the correct data.” Glasgow also shared further frustrations the project has with CoinMarketCap: “EFYT being conflated is the main discrepancy. Also not much help in getting the wider ecosystem integrated.”

Another problem with ERG data on CoinMarketCap was the historical price data, where data for the Ergo First Year Token (EFYT) was mixed with ERG’s data. Combining two different tokens into a single price chart, especially when they are distinct assets with varying supplies, can distort price dynamics and mislead investors. Such practice can undermine the transparency required for informed decision-making in the cryptocurrency market, potentially leading to confusion and misjudgments.

After extensive back-and-forth between CoinMarketCap and the Ergo team, a disconcerting development emerged as CoinMarketCap decided to display a message on top of the Ergo listing on their website. The message implied that the Ergo team wanted to erase years of data to improve the chart’s appearance, highlighting a disagreement between the two parties. Such an action by a token pricing listing site raised concerns about professionalism and impartiality. It appeared that this move strayed from the conventional role of a data aggregator and seemed to take a more opinionated stance, which could be perceived as an inappropriate response to the ongoing dispute. The text displayed on the ERG listing page on CoinMarketCap can be viewed below.

Ergo’s Response to Data Discrepancy

CoinMarketCap found itself in an embarrassing situation by inaccurately merging data for ERG and EFYT, two separate tokens. The Ergo community, led by the Ergo Foundation, expressed its dissatisfaction with CMC’s handling of the situation, suggesting that CMC was more interested in avoiding accountability than fixing the error.

The core of the issue revolved around CMC’s misunderstanding of total supply in the context of a 1:1 migration, raising concerns about data accuracy and transparency.

Ergo reached out to influential figures in the cryptocurrency space, including Charles Hoskinson of IOHK, and garnered support from the Ergo and Cardano communities. Their collective effort aimed to address the data discrepancy and emphasized the broader need for accuracy and transparency in the cryptocurrency community. This incident underscored the importance of maintaining precise data representation in the cryptocurrency market and the necessity for industry-wide standards to prevent similar occurrences in the future.

Charles Hoskinson was quoted as saying, “I’m not happy, but it shows the need for decentralized information networks and standardized rules. Small cap coins always have trouble regardless of how innovative and novel they happen to be. I’ve always liked Ergo and felt it’s Bitcoin’s replacement.”

CoinMarketCap’s CEO Responds

Amidst the ongoing controversy, CoinMarketCap’s CEO, RushCMC, responded on Twitter with the following statement: “There is a coordinated FUD. I have wasted much time trying to work with them, but they don’t seem to care about the facts. They just want to cover what they did in the past, and they want some eyeballs by attacking CMC. Good to have some transparency.”

However, rather than directly addressing the issue and acknowledging the critical data discrepancy, CoinMarketCap’s CEO characterizes the criticisms from the Ergo community as “coordinated FUD,” or baseless fear, uncertainty, and doubt. CoinMarketCap has not commented publicly on the issue with Minswap DEX data displaying incorrectly on the platform.

Conclusion

The disputes that Minswap and Ergo have with CoinMarketCap regarding their data representation, emphasize the complexities inherent in maintaining transparency and data accuracy within the crypto space. These narratives underscore the necessity for an unbiased and impartial data aggregation site that can offer fair representation to blockchain projects. Notably, we reached out to CoinMarketCap for comment on the issues with Minswap and Ergo but have not received a response

You can view the Google sheet where issues with CoinMarketCap are being tracked at the following link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14oTdyTwizS_TdD2CYq-D2VUgE5WtTTWOEArXuulsVOY/edit#gid=0