S&P Dow Jones Indices and Pantera Capital have launched a new rules-based digital asset index designed to evaluate blockchain networks and protocols using protocol revenue rather than token prices or pure market capitalization. The move signals a continued shift toward “productive activity” metrics as institutional players look for benchmarks that better reflect real-world usage.
In an announcement on July 21, the firms said the index is intended for institutional allocation and could be used as the basis for investment products or as a reference portfolio for actively managed strategies. The methodology also aims to help investors distinguish established on-chain business activity from more speculative exposure.
Key takeaways
- Protocol revenue is central: networks are selected and ranked based on aggregate protocol revenue over the prior two quarters.
- Liquidity and size gates apply: eligibility requires minimum thresholds for protocol revenue, market capitalization, and liquidity.
- Concentration is controlled: the largest holding is capped at 35%, while most other constituents are capped at 20%.
- Quarterly rebalancing: the index is recalculated and rebalanced on a quarterly schedule.
- Bitcoin and XRP are not included at launch: per S&P’s methodology discussion, BTC and XRP are the largest non-constituents versus the S&P Cryptocurrency Broad Digital Asset Index.
A revenue-based benchmark for “productive” blockchain activity
Traditional crypto benchmarks often track assets using market capitalization or token price movements. By contrast, S&P and Pantera’s index focuses on protocol revenue to measure how much economic value is being generated by the networks and the applications built on them. The firms draw from the S&P Cryptocurrency Broad Digital Asset Index, but filter the eligible universe using minimum thresholds for protocol revenue, market capitalization, and liquidity.
After networks pass the eligibility requirements, they are ranked by aggregate protocol revenue across the previous two quarters. Weighting then uses adjusted market capitalization, subject to portfolio construction rules. According to S&P, the framework is designed to emphasize established blockchain activity and reduce reliance on exposure that may be driven mainly by speculation.
This distinction matters for investors because protocol revenue is intended to function as a proxy for sustained usage and monetization, whereas market cap and token price can reflect expectations and sentiment even when on-chain monetization is weaker. The index’s quarterly rebalancing also means the benchmark can respond to changes in protocol performance over time, rather than remaining tied to a static basket.
Initial constituents and what’s different versus a broad benchmark
The index launched with 18 constituents. In S&P Dow Jones Indices’ Indexology blog post, the five largest holdings at launch were Ether (ETH), BNB (BNB), Solana (SOL), TRON (TRX), and Hyperliquid (HYPE).
The blog post also highlights a key selection contrast: Bitcoin (BTC) and XRP (XRP) were identified as the largest non-constituents compared with the S&P Cryptocurrency Broad Digital Asset Index. That outcome is consistent with a methodology that prioritizes protocol revenue-based eligibility and ranking. In other words, assets can be large by market cap yet still fail to become constituents if they do not meet the index’s revenue criteria as defined under the benchmark rules.
For allocators, this is one of the index’s most practically important implications. A revenue-driven selection mechanism changes not only what investors own, but also what risks the benchmark is implicitly targeting—shifting away from pure token beta toward networks whose protocol economics are feeding the index construction process.
Why institutions are pushing beyond market-cap indexes
The launch comes as the broader industry continues to develop institutional-grade crypto benchmarks. These efforts are unfolding alongside traditional finance firms expanding crypto capabilities and the growing adoption of tokenized assets, which increases demand for standardized measurement frameworks.
In the US, ETF and index activity has accelerated. Hashdex launched the Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF on Feb. 14, 2025, which was described as the first multi-asset spot crypto exchange-traded fund in the United States. Franklin Templeton followed six days later with the Franklin Crypto Index ETF, tracking Bitcoin and Ether through the US CF Institutional Digital Asset Index, which is market capitalization-weighted.
Other benchmark approaches have also emerged. In April, MarketVector Indexes and Coinbase Asset Management launched the Coinbase Store of Value Index, which combines Bitcoin with tokenized gold using an inverse-volatility weighting model—an example of how benchmark design can shift exposure toward different portfolio goals.
Market participants have argued that as crypto ecosystems evolve, diversification across networks and strategies may become more operationally attractive. Earlier coverage referenced Bitwise chief investment officer Matt Hougan stating that crypto index funds are expected to be a major theme in 2026 as investor needs grow and the market becomes more complex. The core rationale, as described, is that it is increasingly difficult to predict which blockchain networks will prove durable winners, making diversified index solutions a pragmatic way to obtain broad exposure.
S&P’s latest step in digital asset benchmark expansion
Beyond this new product, S&P Dow Jones Indices has been broadening its digital asset benchmark footprint. Last October, S&P introduced the S&P Digital Markets 50 Index, which combines 15 cryptocurrencies with 35 publicly traded companies tied to the crypto ecosystem. That earlier index illustrates how S&P is experimenting with different ways to connect crypto exposure to both on-chain activity and publicly traded crypto-adjacent equities.
With the new protocol-revenue index, the emphasis is narrower and more specific: measure blockchain networks through the economics of their protocols. Investors watching for benchmark evolution should pay attention to whether revenue-based methodologies gain traction in index-tracked products, and how issuers translate those rules into investable strategies—particularly in terms of transparency around revenue estimation and how methodology changes affect index constituents over time.
Next, investors and portfolio managers will likely focus on how the benchmark performs as protocols’ monetization trends shift quarter to quarter, and whether the revenue-based framework attracts liquidity and product sponsorship comparable to traditional market-cap indexes.
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