S&P Dow Jones Indices and Pantera Capital have introduced a new cryptocurrency index that doesn’t focus solely on the price and size of individual digital currencies. The S&P Pantera Digital Asset Index selects blockchain networks based on whether they generate measurable revenue. Its largest holdings include ether, BNB, or solana, while bitcoin and XRP are not included in the index at all.
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Most traditional cryptocurrency indices work quite simply. The larger the market capitalization a given digital currency has, the higher the weight it typically receives in the index. However, such an approach can lead to the entire benchmark’s performance being primarily determined by bitcoin, while the actual usage of individual blockchain networks remains sidelined.
The new S&P Pantera Digital Asset Index seeks to change this model. S&P Dow Jones Indices created it together with investment firm Pantera Capital as a benchmark for investors who want to evaluate digital assets based on the economic activity of their networks, not just on rising token prices or popularity.
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New cryptocurrency index tracks protocol revenue
The index is based on so-called protocol revenue. Simply put, this is revenue generated by using a specific blockchain network or service. It can be related to transaction fees, trading, lending, or other activities performed through the given protocol.
According to S&P methodology, protocol revenue is meant to function as an objective and rules-based indicator of real economic activity. However, the mere existence of revenue doesn’t automatically mean that money will be paid out to token holders or that its price will grow. It’s primarily a way to distinguish actively used blockchains from projects based predominantly on speculation.
The selection doesn’t start from scratch. The index is based on a broader set of cryptocurrencies included in the S&P Cryptocurrency Broad Digital Asset Index benchmark. Individual assets must then pass additional conditions regarding protocol revenue, market capitalization, number of tokens in circulation, and liquidity.
The methodology requires that the protocol report positive aggregate revenue during the last two completed quarters. Newly added assets must also exceed the threshold of 500 million dollars in both market and adjusted market capitalization and meet minimum trading liquidity requirements. Meme coins and abandoned projects are excluded from selection.
Revenue determines inclusion, size determines weight
Cryptocurrencies that meet the conditions are ranked by total protocol revenue generated during the previous two quarters. Thus, revenue primarily determines whether an asset gets into the index.
However, its final weight is still derived from adjusted market capitalization. The largest holding can make up a maximum of 35 percent of the index. Other cryptocurrencies are typically limited to 20 percent to prevent the benchmark from becoming too dependent on a single project. Excess weight is redistributed among the remaining assets after reaching the limit.
The index composition is reviewed and adjusted every quarter. Rebalancing occurs after trading closes on the third Friday in March, June, September, and December. A blockchain that stops meeting revenue, size, or data conditions can thus be removed in one of the subsequent updates.
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Ether, BNB and solana lead. Bitcoin left out
The S&P Pantera Digital Asset Index contained 18 digital assets at launch. The five largest positions were ether (ETH), BNB (BNB), solana (SOL), TRON (TRX), and Hyperliquid (HYPE). Their blockchains and protocols generate revenue through transactions, trading, or other financial services operated directly on the blockchain.
However, the most significant attention was drawn to assets missing from the index. When compared to the broader S&P Cryptocurrency Broad Digital Asset Index, the largest excluded cryptocurrencies are bitcoin and XRP. Bitcoin often forms a dominant part of the portfolio in regular indices based on market capitalization.
Its absence doesn’t mean that S&P questions the significance or value of the world’s largest cryptocurrency. The new index simply measures a different characteristic. Bitcoin is primarily conceived as a decentralized monetary asset and network for value transfer. Therefore, it doesn’t meet the revenue methodology in the same way as blockchains supporting extensive ecosystems of applications, exchanges, lending protocols, or smart contracts.
The same principle also led to the exclusion of XRP. S&P identified it in its comparison as the second largest missing item, but the specific index composition isn’t determined by project popularity or token size alone, but by predetermined rules based on revenue.
S&P targets primarily institutional investors
The new benchmark is intended primarily for institutional investors, asset managers, and investment funds. It can serve as a basis for future investment products or as a reference indicator for actively managed cryptocurrency portfolios. Through its rules-based framework, S&P wants to offer a way to separate established blockchain activity from purely speculative investments.
However, the index itself is not an investment fund or token that a regular investor could buy directly. Investing is only possible through a potential ETF, fund, or other product that decides to track its performance. S&P also warns that index performance doesn’t include costs, fees, or other risks associated with actual investment.
If investment products are actually created based on it, the new benchmark could direct part of institutional capital toward blockchains that are only limitedly represented in traditional cryptocurrency indices. At the same time, however, investors would gain greater exposure to alternative cryptocurrencies whose prices can be significantly more volatile than bitcoin’s price.
S&P expands digital asset index offering
The launch of the new index follows the broader expansion of S&P Dow Jones Indices in the cryptocurrency space. In October 2025, the company announced the S&P Digital Markets 50 Index, which combines 15 cryptocurrencies with shares of 35 publicly traded U.S. companies connected to the cryptocurrency ecosystem and blockchain infrastructure.
Both indices approach digital assets differently. Digital Markets 50 combines cryptocurrencies with traditional stocks of companies operating in areas such as cryptocurrency exchanges, payments, data centers, or blockchain technologies. The S&P Pantera Digital Asset Index, on the other hand, focuses exclusively on digital assets themselves and examines the economic activity of their protocols.
Cryptocurrencies are starting to be valued like companies
The new index shows that the institutional approach to cryptocurrencies is gradually changing. Alongside price, market capitalization, and trading volume, indicators that resemble fundamental analysis of traditional companies are gaining greater importance. Investors are increasingly asking whether the blockchain is actually being used, how much revenue it generates, and whether there’s a mechanism that can link economic activity to token value.
However, even protocol revenue is no guarantee of successful investment. A blockchain can generate high revenue while facing competition, security issues, regulatory interventions, or rapid user exodus. Therefore, the new index doesn’t represent instructions on which cryptocurrencies to buy. It primarily offers a new way to measure a part of the market that traditional indices based on cryptocurrency size capture only limitedly.
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