S&P Dow Jones Indices and Pantera Capital have launched an 18-asset crypto index that excludes Bitcoin and ranks eligible blockchain networks by the protocol revenue generated during the previous two quarters.

According to a joint announcement from the companies, the S&P Pantera Digital Asset Index is designed to measure established network activity instead of relying only on token prices or market capitalization. The benchmark may support investment products, institutional allocations, and actively managed digital asset portfolios.

Bitcoin and XRP are the largest assets from the S&P Cryptocurrency Broad Digital Asset Index that failed to enter the new benchmark, S&P Dow Jones Indices wrote in an Indexology blog post. Their absence comes from the index’s revenue requirements rather than their market value, liquidity, or name recognition.

S&P Dow Jones Indices CEO Kathy Clay told CNBC that Bitcoin did not qualify because it is not a revenue-generating protocol under the index’s rules.

“Bitcoin is not in there because it’s really not one of those revenue-generating protocols that we think belongs in this index and meets all of the criteria.”

Unlike smart-contract platforms, Bitcoin rewards miners with newly issued coins and transaction fees for securing its network. S&P’s methodology, however, focuses on revenue linked to activity across protocols and applications, which favors blockchains that collect fees from transactions, trading and other services.

Clay told CNBC that S&P wanted to apply principles used in traditional equity indexes to digital assets by measuring factors that matter to professional investors. The approach creates a benchmark centered on the economic activity of blockchain networks rather than the size of their tokens alone.

Protocol revenue determines which crypto assets qualify

Drawn from the S&P Cryptocurrency Broad Digital Asset Index, the eligible universe must first pass minimum requirements for protocol revenue, market capitalization and liquidity, according to the companies. Assets that clear those screens are ranked by their total protocol revenue across the two most recent quarters.

Adjusted market capitalization then determines the weight of each qualifying asset. Under the index rules, the largest constituent cannot exceed 35%, while the other holdings are generally limited to 20%.

Quarterly rebalancing allows the benchmark to add, remove or resize constituents as their revenue, liquidity and market value change. As a result, an asset’s position depends on continued network use as well as its ability to meet the index’s trading requirements.

Ether, BNB, Solana, TRON and Hyperliquid’s HYPE token hold the five largest positions at launch, according to S&P’s Indexology post. Each asset represents a network that collects revenue from transactions or applications operating through its infrastructure.

By comparison, many crypto benchmarks give Bitcoin their largest allocation because they use market capitalization as the main weighting measure. Bitcoin represented about 57% of the total cryptocurrency market when the index was introduced, according to CoinGecko data cited by Investopedia.

The Nasdaq CME Crypto Index assigned Bitcoin a weighting of nearly 77%, while Ether held about 13%, Investopedia reported. The FTSE Digital Asset All Cap Index also placed roughly 75% of its weight in Bitcoin, showing how market-cap-based methods can concentrate portfolios in the largest asset.

S&P’s new benchmark does not remove market capitalization from the calculation completely. Instead, the methodology uses revenue to decide which assets qualify and how they rank before adjusted market value sets their final weights.

Pantera Capital’s participation also connects the index with a crypto-focused investment manager that has backed blockchain projects and digital assets. Under the joint framework, S&P provides its index construction and governance experience while Pantera contributes knowledge of blockchain networks and their economic models.

Fund providers are expanding multi-asset crypto exposure

The revenue-based index follows S&P Dow Jones Indices’ launch of the S&P Digital Markets 50 Index in October 2025. That benchmark combines 15 cryptocurrencies with 35 publicly traded companies involved in digital asset infrastructure and services, according to S&P’s index description.

Hashdex has also expanded index-based crypto investing through the Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF. The manager says the fund uses eligibility checks covering market size, liquidity, custody and U.S. regulatory requirements before assets can enter its benchmark.

Franklin Templeton entered the category in February 2025 with its Franklin Crypto Index ETF, or EZPZ. At launch, the fund tracked Bitcoin and Ether through the CF Institutional Digital Asset Index, according to the firm’s launch announcement.

Franklin later expanded the fund’s underlying index to include XRP, Solana, Dogecoin, Cardano, Stellar and Chainlink alongside Bitcoin and Ether, according to the manager’s current product information. The additions show how rules-based crypto funds can change their holdings when more assets meet regulatory and investment requirements.

MarketVector Indexes and Coinbase Asset Management took another route in April by introducing the Coinbase Store of Value Index. Their benchmark combines Bitcoin with tokenized gold and applies inverse-volatility weighting, giving less weight to the asset showing higher price swings.

Bitwise chief investment officer Matt Hougan predicted in December that crypto index funds would become important during 2026 because the market was growing more complex and its use cases were multiplying. In a Bitwise investment memo, Hougan argued that diversified funds could help investors gain exposure without having to identify every eventual winner.

The S&P Pantera index applies that diversification idea to revenue-producing networks, leaving the market’s largest cryptocurrency outside the benchmark while giving leading positions to blockchains with measurable fee activity.

The newest draft of the crypto market structure bill “falls short” of where it needs to be on ethics and other provisions, a group of U.S. Senate Democrats said Wednesday.

Senators Angela Alsobrooks, Cory Booker, Catherine Cortez Masto, Ruben Gallego, John Hickenlooper, Mark Warner and Raphael Warnock — a core group of negotiators that would likely be needed to advance the bill — said in a joint statement shared with CoinDesk that they would keep working with their Republican counterparts on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (Clarity Act) but that it needed more work on various outstanding issues, including how the bill addresses illicit finance and consumer protections.

Alsobrooks and Gallego were the only lawmakers to vote for the Clarity Act in committee, while several others on the statement have expressed support for the bill in the past.

“The Republican-proposed text of the CLARITY Act as it currently stands falls short,” the statement said. “Key provisions including those addressing ethics for elected officials, consumer protection, illicit finance, conflicts of interest and market integrity must be strengthened.”

S&P Dow Jones Indices and Pantera Capital have launched a new rules-based digital asset index designed to measure protocol activity using blockchain revenue rather than token prices or pure market-cap rankings. The move signals a broader push in crypto benchmark design: shifting from “token-driven” to “product-driven” metrics that aim to capture which networks are generating sustained economic usage.

According to a joint announcement from the firms, the index’s starting point is the S&P Cryptocurrency Broad Digital Asset Index, but it filters and ranks only networks that clear minimum thresholds for protocol revenue, market capitalization, and liquidity. Networks that qualify are then ranked by aggregate protocol revenue over the prior two quarters and weighted using adjusted market capitalization, with portfolio concentration controls including a 35% cap on the largest holding and generally 20% caps on the rest. The index is rebalanced quarterly and is positioned for institutional allocation, potentially serving as a reference for investment products and actively managed digital asset portfolios.

Key takeaways

• S&P Dow Jones Indices and Pantera Capital created an index that prioritizes protocol revenue—attempting to reflect real network activity beyond token price movements.
• The methodology screens for protocol revenue, market capitalization, and liquidity before ranking networks by revenue over the previous two quarters.
• Weights are derived from adjusted market capitalization, with concentration limits (35% for the top holding and generally 20% for others) and quarterly rebalancing.
• The index launched with 18 constituents, topped by Ether, BNB, Solana, TRON, and Hyperliquid.
• The launch adds to S&P’s expanding suite of digital-asset benchmarks and aligns with a wider industry trend toward institution-oriented crypto indices.

A benchmark built on protocol revenue

The core difference between this new product and many traditional crypto indexes is its selection logic. Rather than treating the market as a direct proxy for network value, the S&P Pantera Digital Asset Index is built to distinguish established blockchain activity from speculative exposure by focusing on protocol revenue generation.

In practical terms, the index starts from the S&P Cryptocurrency Broad Digital Asset Index universe, then applies eligibility thresholds for protocol revenue, market capitalization, and liquidity. Only networks that meet those requirements proceed to the ranking stage. The ranking itself uses aggregate protocol revenue over the prior two quarters, which helps smooth short-term spikes in activity while still tying inclusion to measurable economic output.

The weighting approach then blends that revenue filter with market-scale considerations: after ranking, constituents are weighted by adjusted market capitalization. The index’s structure includes explicit limits to reduce the risk of any single network dominating performance—an important feature for institutional users accustomed to diversified benchmark behavior.

For readers, the key implication is that this index may behave differently than market-cap-led benchmarks during periods when token prices and on-chain economics diverge. By construction, the methodology aims to reduce reliance on token market sentiment as the primary inclusion and weighting driver.

What the initial portfolio looks like

At launch, the index included 18 constituents. S&P Dow Jones Indices’ Indexology blog post, published alongside the rollout, listed Ether (ETH), BNB (BNB), Solana (SOL), TRON (TRX), and Hyperliquid (HYPE) as the five largest holdings.

That same blog post compared the new revenue-based selection against the S&P Cryptocurrency Broad Digital Asset Index and identified Bitcoin (BTC) and XRP (XRP) as the largest non-constituents under the new framework. The contrast highlights the asymmetry created by protocol-revenue methodology: even when a token is highly liquid or widely traded, it may be excluded if it does not meet the index’s protocol revenue criteria and related eligibility thresholds.

In other words, this benchmark is not attempting to replicate “the biggest coins by market size.” Instead, it is explicitly designed around a different question: which blockchain networks generate enough protocol revenue—relative to their market presence—to qualify for institutional-style basket inclusion.

Institutional use cases and the ETF backdrop

In its announcement, S&P positioned the index for institutional allocation and noted that it may serve as the basis for investment products or act as a reference benchmark for actively managed portfolios. While the filing does not automatically mean a spot ETF or any particular product will follow, it does reflect the growing role of index providers in turning crypto market theory into investable benchmarks.

This launch arrives as major market participants continue building multi-asset and rules-based frameworks that can be used by asset managers operating under traditional risk and governance expectations.

Cointelegraph previously reported that Hashdex launched the Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF on Feb. 14, 2025, described as the first multi-asset spot crypto exchange-traded fund in the United States. Shortly afterward, Franklin Templeton introduced the Franklin Crypto Index ETF on Feb. 20, 2025, tracking Bitcoin and Ether via the US CF Institutional Digital Asset Index, which is market-cap weighted.

The sector’s “index first” momentum has also extended beyond the strict boundaries of spot crypto. Earlier reporting cited MarketVector Indexes and Coinbase Asset Management launching the Coinbase Store of Value Index in April, a benchmark combining Bitcoin and tokenized gold using an inverse-volatility weighting model—an example of how crypto benchmarks are increasingly packaged alongside traditional diversifiers.

Separately, Cointelegraph noted remarks from Bitwise chief investment officer Matt Hougan arguing that crypto index funds would be “a big deal in 2026” as the market grows more complex and investors seek broader exposure rather than trying to predict which networks become long-term winners. While Hougan’s comments were framed as forward-looking, they map closely to the rationale behind S&P and Pantera’s protocol-revenue approach: diversification is easier to justify when the benchmark rules are transparent and grounded in a defined economic metric.

S&P’s expanding crypto benchmark lineup

This new index is also part of a wider pattern inside S&P Dow Jones Indices: the provider has been building digital-asset benchmark offerings intended to translate crypto performance into familiar institutional product structures.

In October, S&P Dow Jones Indices introduced the S&P Digital Markets 50 Index, a composite that combines 15 cryptocurrencies with 35 publicly traded companies tied to the crypto ecosystem. The contrast with the new revenue-based index is instructive. The Digital Markets 50 Index uses a cross-asset structure spanning token networks and equity exposure, while the S&P Pantera Digital Asset Index focuses on network economic activity and liquidity criteria—narrowing the lens from “crypto as an industry” to “crypto as protocol usage.”

Both initiatives reflect the same broad direction: building benchmarks that can support institutional research, portfolio construction, and eventually product engineering.

Looking ahead, investors and index users will likely focus on two practical questions: how the protocol revenue thresholds and revenue-based ranking hold up as network economics evolve, and whether future constituents shift meaningfully as quarterly rebalancing updates the revenue inputs. The index’s concentration caps should help manage risk, but the biggest watch item will be whether the revenue filter consistently separates durable network activity from short-lived speculative cycles.

Senate Republicans have released the proposed text for the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, including language on ethics that would bar all US federal officials — including President Donald Trump — from issuing or sponsoring any digital asset.

In the 616-page text of the CLARITY Act made public on Wednesday, US lawmakers included language that the White House described as the “most comprehensive and wide-ranging ethics provision in history.“ The bill said all public officials, employees and their spouses would be barred from issuing or sponsoring digital assets and crypto platforms would similarly be blocked from listing assets issued or sponsored by federal officials.

Text of CLARITY Act released on Wednesday. Source: Cynthia Lummis

According to Senator Cynthia Lummis, one of the bill’s chief advocates, the ethics provisions would also apply to Trump, who faces significant pushback from lawmakers over earning more than $1.4 billion in 2025 from his crypto ventures. The ban on public officials would only be temporary, expiring on Jan. 20, 2029 — the day Trump’s second term as president will end. 

The US Attorney General will largely be responsible for enforcing the ban rather than state authorities. As of Wednesday, Trump’s former personal attorney and acting AG Todd Blanche was awaiting a Senate confirmation vote to head the Justice Department.

“I wouldn’t support the bill if that’s the language,” said Senator Angela Alsobrooks in a Tuesday statement to Politico on having the DoJ behind enforcement of ethics. “But we’ll keep working from that floor to reach an agreement that holds us all accountable.”

The CLARITY Act, which awaits a potential vote in the Senate before returning to the House of Representatives and possibly Trump’s desk, still needs support from several Democratic lawmakers to meet a 60-vote threshold. Many Democrats have explicitly said that they will not vote for any bill without strong ethics language to address what some have called the president’s “crypto corruption.”

Will enough Democrats sign onto the bill?

Notably, CLARITY’s ethics provisions did not appear to include children of public officials in its temporary ban. All three of Trump’s sons are co-founders of his family’s World Liberty Financial crypto business, and two launched a Bitcoin (BTC) mining company, American Bitcoin.

“This bill applies one ethics standard to everyone, including the President of the United States, and backs it up with real enforcement, real penalties, and a Department of Justice mandate to act,” said Lummis on behalf of the US Senate Banking Committee’s subcommittee on digital assets. “This is not talk.”

Related: Nigerian president signs order on approach to crypto regulation, taxes

Senate Majority Leader John Thune reportedly plans to put CLARITY up for a vote on the Senate floor sometime next week regardless of whether it has enough support from Democrats to pass. The chamber only has a few weeks to hold a vote before it breaks for state work periods.

“[E]thics is far from the only thing at stake,“ said Solana Policy Institute President Kristin Smith in reaction to the CLARITY text. “The Senate has added a full disclosure regime, an entire illicit finance section, and improved spot market regulation […] The Senate has a real chance to pass durable, bipartisan market structure legislation.“

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