Volume 30, Issue 2 pp. 1302-1318
RESEARCH ARTICLE

What drives the return and volatility spillover between DeFis and cryptocurrencies?

Ata Assaf

Corresponding Author

Ata Assaf

Faculty of Business and Management, University of Balamand, Tripoli, Lebanon

Correspondence

Ata Assaf, Faculty of Business and Management, University of Balamand, P.O.Box: 100, Tripoli, Lebanon.

Email: [email protected]

Search for more papers by this author
Ender Demir

Ender Demir

Department of Business Administration, School of Social Sciences, Reykjavik University, Reykjavik, Iceland

Korea University Business School, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea

Search for more papers by this author
Oguz Ersan

Oguz Ersan

Department of International Trade and Finance, Faculty of Economics, Administrative and Social Sciences, Kadir Has University, Istanbul, Turkey

Search for more papers by this author
First published: 26 March 2024
Citations: 5

Abstract

In this paper, we study the return and volatility connectedness between cryptocurrencies and DeFi Tokens, considering the impact of different uncertainty indices on their connectivity. Initially, we estimate a TVP-VAR model to obtain the total connectedness between the two markets. We find that returns on the cryptocurrencies transmit significantly larger shocks and, thus, are responsible for most variations in the majority of DeFis' returns. Then, to analyse the impact of uncertainty on total return and volatility connectedness, we use four factors, namely, Economic Policy Uncertainty (EPU), The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index (VIX), Infectious Disease Equity Market Volatility Tracker (ID-EMV) and Geopolitical Risks (GPR). We find that except for geopolitical risks, all three measures have a positive impact on return and volatility connectedness, while GPR exerts a negative impact. Finally, we provide implications for researchers, market participants and policymakers.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENT

There is no conflict of interest.

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

The full text of this article hosted at iucr.org is unavailable due to technical difficulties.