S&P Dow Jones Indices and Pantera Capital have launched the S&P Pantera Digital Asset Index, a brand new benchmark that selects digital property utilizing measures of yield, market measurement, and liquidity.
The businesses introduced the product on July twenty first, however S&P index paperwork listing the official launch date as July twentieth. In keeping with an official announcement, the index at the moment holds 18 digital property and is focused at institutional traders searching for a structured technique to observe a broader portion of the crypto market.
The 5 largest constituents are the ether ($ETH), $BNBSolana ($SOL), Tron($TRX) and hyperliquid ($HYPE), in keeping with S&P Dow Jones Indices. This alternative offers the benchmark a distinct profile than crypto merchandise that target Bitcoin or rank property primarily by market capitalization. The index focuses on protocols that symbolize recurring financial exercise by means of protocol-level returns, S&P mentioned.
@SPDJIndices and Pantera Capital have launched the S&P Pantera Digital Asset Index, designed to function a benchmark for institutional traders looking for a extra disciplined and structured strategy to digital asset allocation.
By specializing in high quality and real-world practicality,… pic.twitter.com/3RIzqgkbZZ
— S&P World (@SPGlobal) July 21, 2026
Return Guidelines Form the S&P Pantera Digital Asset Index
The index begins with property from the S&P Cryptocurrency Broad Digital Asset Index and is topic to a number of eligibility assessments. New constituents will need to have a market capitalization better than $500 million and a liquidity ratio better than 0.5. Present constituents have a decrease market capitalization threshold of $250 million. A screening course of then narrows the eligible universe to property that meet the benchmark's financial exercise necessities.
After an preliminary screening, the index ranks eligible property based mostly on the returns they generated over the previous two quarters. Belongings are added till the chosen group accounts for 99% of the entire income of the goal universe. S&P makes use of information from Artemis to measure protocol-level returns. The index then weights its constituents by adjusted market capitalization, capping the biggest holding at 35% and different holdings at 20% at every rebalancing.
Kathy Clay, CEO of S&P Dow Jones Indices, mentioned the agency constructed the benchmark round “utilizing a fundamentals-driven, economics-based framework constructed for a various portfolio.” This construction permits the index to function a benchmark for energetic methods and probably function the premise for future index-linked funding merchandise. S&P additionally said that protocol returns don’t predict future investor returns, however as a substitute function a measure of rules-based financial exercise.
$ETH, $BNB and $SOL Lead a basket of 18 tokens
Present prime holdings present how earnings screens change the composition of broad crypto benchmarks. Ether ranks as one of many largest constituent shares together with Ether. $BNB and $SOLin the meantime $TRX and $HYPE Full the highest 5. The basket due to this fact consists of good contract platforms and buying and selling infrastructure that generate measurable exercise throughout the community.
This strategy locations much less emphasis on simply the recognition of the token. “The most important friction level in crypto stays the identical: figuring out learn how to allocate it,” mentioned Dan Morehead, founder and managing accomplice of Pantera Capital. Pantera contributed its digital asset analysis and governance expertise to the mission, and S&P supplied the index design and administration framework.
The launch follows different strikes by S&P Dow Jones Indices to increase its digital asset merchandise. As beforehand reported by crypto.information, S&P introduced plans for the 2025 S&P Digital Market 50 Index, which mixes 15 cryptocurrencies and 35 crypto-related public corporations. Whereas this product takes a broader ecosystem strategy, the brand new Pantera index narrows its choice round recurring protocol revenues and financial exercise.
Institutional crypto benchmarks proceed to increase
Different monetary market operators are additionally introducing basket-based crypto merchandise for skilled traders. As crypto.information reported in June, CME Group launched Nasdaq CME Crypto Index futures tied to eight main digital property. Money-settled contracts present a regulated means for traders to realize or hedge publicity to a number of cryptocurrencies with out straight holding every underlying token.
In the meantime, S&P has continued its work connecting established benchmarks with blockchain infrastructure. As crypto.information reported in April, S&P Dow Jones Indices and Kaiko introduced plans to carry the iBoxx U.S. Treasury Index to the Canton Community. This mission goals to help merchandise linked to the index by means of on-chain index information, license phrases, and entry controls.
The S&P Pantera Digital Asset Index provides one other mannequin to this rising benchmark product. Relatively than constructing a basket round market cap alone, we use earnings and liquidity screens earlier than assigning capped market cap weights. 18 Token composition and present prime holdings $ETH, $BNB, $SOL, $TRX and $HYPE It's on the coronary heart of the startup benchmark.
S&P says the index serves as a reference level for energetic managers and potential index-linked merchandise. Nevertheless, traders can’t make investments straight in an index; third events will individually problem funding merchandise based mostly on the benchmark. The composition of the index might also change throughout future rebalancing if property meet or fail the choice guidelines.
