S&P and Pantera's new crypto index skips Bitcoin and XRP, instead weighting 18 tokens by on-chain revenue and user activity. Ethereum, Solana and Hyperliquid lead the allocations.
Alpha Score of 67 reflects moderate overall profile with strong momentum, weak value, moderate quality, strong sentiment.
S&P Dow Jones Indices and Pantera Capital have launched a digital asset benchmark that excludes Bitcoin and XRP in favor of blockchain networks that generate measurable on-chain revenue.
The S&P Pantera Digital Asset Index holds 18 tokens. Ethereum, BNB, Solana, TRON and Hyperliquid make up the largest allocations. Assets are selected based on protocol revenue, user activity and ecosystem adoption – not market capitalization or price momentum – S&P and Pantera said in a joint statement.
Bitcoin and XRP are absent because the methodology targets networks where the token captures value from economic activity, rather than assets whose primary function is as a store of value or payment rail. XRP is the native token of the XRP Ledger, which Ripple Labs uses for cross-border settlement; Bitcoin is the largest cryptocurrency by market cap.
“One of the biggest challenges facing institutional investors remains determining how to allocate capital across an increasingly diverse digital asset market,” Pantera founder Dan Morehead said in the statement. The index was designed to identify blockchain infrastructure with long-term relevance, he said.
S&P Dow Jones Indices CEO Cathy Clay described the benchmark as a fundamentals-based framework for diversified institutional portfolios, in a CNBC interview.
The index uses on-chain data from Artemis Analytics and pricing from Lukka. Historical performance shown before the July 20, 2026 launch date is back-tested, not actual returns, Pantera noted.
The launch comes as asset managers seek benchmarks that evaluate blockchain networks using economic metrics rather than price alone. Institutional participation in digital assets has expanded beyond single-asset products focused on Bitcoin and Ethereum, with firms like BlackRock and Visa pushing into stablecoins and the broader crypto derivatives market dwarfing spot trading volume by more than 4x.
S&P and Pantera said the index is intended as a reference benchmark for portfolio construction and performance measurement, not as a passive investment product. The methodology could support the development of investment vehicles linked to the index, they said.
The index applies transparent inclusion rules rather than discretionary asset selection, aiming for a consistent framework across rebalancing periods. The first reconstitution is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2026.
Pantera Capital, founded by Morehead in 2013, manages roughly $5 billion in crypto-focused assets. S&P Dow Jones Indices calculates more than 1 million equity, fixed-income and commodity benchmarks.
Drafted by a large language model from the source reporting linked above, then screened by automated publishing checks. It is not read by a journalist before publication. Some articles cite our Alpha Score. Verify prices and figures against the original source. Educational coverage, not personalized advice.