S&P Dow Jones Indices has unveiled a new cryptocurrency benchmark that deliberately leaves out Bitcoin, despite the token accounting for more than half of the global digital asset market.
The S&P Pantera Digital Asset Index, launched with crypto investment firm Pantera Capital, tracks 18 blockchain networks based on the protocol revenue they generate over the previous two quarters – not on token prices or market size.
Ether, BNB, Solana, TRON and Hyperliquid’s HYPE token are the five largest constituents at launch, reflecting networks that earn fees from transactions, trading and on-chain applications.
Bitcoin and XRP, two of the best-known cryptocurrencies, failed to qualify even though they are among the biggest components of S&P’s existing Cryptocurrency Broad Digital Asset Index. S&P said their omission comes from revenue rules rather than a lack of liquidity or brand recognition.
Why Bitcoin did not make the cut
S&P Dow Jones Indices chief executive Kathy Clay told CNBC that Bitcoin fell outside the methodology because it does not operate as a revenue-generating protocol under the index’s definition.
“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.”
While Bitcoin pays miners in new coins and transaction fees to secure its network, the new benchmark zeroes in on protocols that directly collect revenues from users and applications – for example through transaction fees on smart-contract platforms, decentralised exchanges or other on-chain services.
Clay said S&P’s intention was to bring the logic of traditional equity indices into digital assets by focusing on indicators professional investors use to assess companies and sectors.
The result is a benchmark built around the underlying economic activity of blockchain networks rather than the sheer size of their tokens.
How the index works
The index’s investable universe is drawn from the S&P Cryptocurrency Broad Digital Asset Index. To be considered, each asset must pass minimum thresholds for protocol revenue, market capitalisation and liquidity.
Eligible assets are then ranked by their total protocol revenue generated over the last two completed quarters. Only after that ranking is set does adjusted market capitalisation determine each constituent’s final weight.
No single asset can account for more than 35% of the index, and most other holdings are capped at 20%, limiting concentration risk. The benchmark is rebalanced every quarter, allowing it to add, drop or resize assets as their revenue, trading activity and market value change.
That means a project’s position in the index will depend not only on investor sentiment but also on whether people continue to use its network and pay associated fees.
A challenge to market‐cap benchmarks
Most major crypto indices give Bitcoin an outsized role because they rely heavily on market capitalisation.
Bitcoin represented about 57% of the total cryptocurrency market when the S&P Pantera index was introduced, according to CoinGecko data cited by Investopedia. The Nasdaq CME Crypto Index gave Bitcoin a weighting of nearly 77%, with Ether around 13%. The FTSE Digital Asset All Cap Index placed roughly 75% of its weight in Bitcoin.
S&P’s approach does not ignore market value entirely, but uses it only after revenue has determined which assets qualify and how they rank. That structure is designed to tilt exposure towards blockchains with measurable, ongoing fee income.
Pantera’s involvement links the benchmark to one of the longest‐running crypto‐focused investment managers, which has funded numerous blockchain projects. Under the partnership, S&P supplies index construction and governance, while Pantera contributes expertise on protocol economics and digital asset markets.
Part of a wider shift in crypto indexing
The revenue‐based index follows a series of recent efforts to build more specialised digital asset benchmarks.
In October 2025, S&P Dow Jones Indices launched the S&P Digital Markets 50 Index, combining 15 cryptocurrencies with 35 listed companies involved in digital asset infrastructure and services.
Other managers have also developed rule‐based crypto indices and funds. Hashdex runs the Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF, which screens assets on size, liquidity, custody and US regulatory criteria. Franklin Templeton entered the space in February 2025 with the Franklin Crypto Index ETF (ticker: EZPZ), initially tracking Bitcoin and Ether before expanding to include XRP, Solana, Dogecoin, Cardano, Stellar and Chainlink as more assets met its rules.
MarketVector Indexes and Coinbase Asset Management launched the Coinbase Store of Value Index in April, mixing Bitcoin with tokenised gold and using inverse‐volatility weighting so more volatile assets receive smaller allocations.
Bitwise chief investment officer Matt Hougan argued in a December investment memo that index funds would become increasingly important in 2026 as crypto markets grew more complex and new use cases emerged, allowing investors to diversify without having to identify every potential winner.
The S&P Pantera Digital Asset Index applies that diversification logic specifically to revenue‐producing networks – and, in doing so, leaves the world’s largest cryptocurrency outside its latest Wall Street benchmark.
