S&P Dow Jones Indices and Pantera Capital Launch Protocol Revenue-Based Crypto Index

S&P Dow Jones Indices and Pantera Capital launched a digital asset index that tracks blockchain networks and protocols based on protocol revenue, marking a departure from crypto benchmarks built around market capitalization or token prices.

The index draws from the S&P Cryptocurrency Broad Digital Asset Index but only includes assets that meet minimum thresholds for protocol revenue, market capitalization and liquidity. Eligible networks are then ranked by aggregate protocol revenue over the previous two quarters and weighted by adjusted market capitalization, with the largest holding capped at 35% and the remaining constituents generally capped at 20%. The index is rebalanced quarterly.

According to an announcement from the companies, the benchmark is intended for institutional allocation and may serve as the basis for investment products or as a reference for actively managed digital asset portfolios. S&P said the rules-based framework is designed to distinguish established blockchain activity from speculative exposure.

The index launched with 18 constituents, with Ether (ETH), BNB (BNB), Solana (SOL), TRON (TRX) and Hyperliquid (HYPE) as its five largest holdings, according to an S&P Dow Jones Indices Indexology blog post. The blog identified Bitcoin (BTC) and XRP (XRP) as the largest non-constituents compared with the S&P Cryptocurrency Broad Digital Asset Index, reflecting the benchmark’s protocol revenue-based selection methodology.

The launch also builds on S&P Dow Jones Indices’ broader expansion into digital asset benchmarks. Last October, the index provider introduced the S&P Digital Markets 50 Index, which combines 15 cryptocurrencies with 35 publicly traded companies tied to the crypto ecosystem.

Asset managers expand crypto index offerings

The debut follows a broader industry push to develop institutional-grade benchmarks for digital assets as traditional finance firms expand crypto offerings and tokenized assets gain traction.

Hashdex launched the Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF on Feb. 14, 2025, 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, a market capitalization-weighted fund tracking Bitcoin and Ether through the US CF Institutional Digital Asset Index.

The trend continued in April when MarketVector Indexes and Coinbase Asset Management launched the Coinbase Store of Value Index, a benchmark combining Bitcoin and tokenized gold using an inverse-volatility weighting model to provide diversified exposure to the assets.

In December, Bitwise chief investment officer Matt Hougan said “crypto index funds are going to be a big deal in 2026” as the market becomes more complex and investors seek broader exposure to digital assets. He argued that predicting which blockchain networks would emerge as long-term winners was increasingly difficult, making diversified index products a practical way to gain market exposure.