Standard & Poor's launches blockchain fundamentals index based on protocol revenue

S & P Dow Jones Indices and Pantra Capital jointly launch new index

S & P Dow Jones Indices and Pantra Capital have jointly launched a new rules-based digital asset index that uses protocol revenue rather than token prices or net market capitalization to evaluate blockchain networks and protocols. This move marks the continued shift of institutional investors to "productive activity" indicators as they seek benchmarks that better reflect actual use.

On July 21, the two companies stated in an announcement that the index is intended to be used for institutional allocation and can be used as a basis for investment products or as a reference combination for proactive management strategies. The approach also aims to help investors distinguish mature on-chain business activities from more speculative exposures.

Core Points

Agreement revenue is the core-the selection and ranking of networks is based on total agreement revenue over the past two quarters. Liquidity and scale thresholds-minimum agreed revenue, market value and liquidity thresholds for access requirements. Concentration control-the maximum position limit is 35%, and the limit is 20% for most other constituent stocks. Quarterly rebalancing-The index is recalculated and adjusted quarterly. Bitcoin and Ripple (XRP) are not included-according to S & P's methodological discussions, Bitcoin and XRP are the largest non-constituents in the index compared to the S & P's broad digital asset index of cryptocurrencies.

Benchmark for "productive" blockchain activities based on revenue

Traditional cryptocurrency benchmarks typically use market value or token price movements to track assets. In contrast, the S & P and Pantra indices focus on agreement revenue to measure the economic value generated by the network and its applications. The two companies draw on the S & P's broad digital asset index for cryptocurrencies, but screen eligible assets through minimum thresholds for negotiated revenue, market value and liquidity. After the network passes the access requirements, it is ranked based on its total agreement revenue in the past two quarters. It is then weighted using adjusted market value and subject to portfolio construction rules. According to S & P, the framework aims to emphasize mature blockchain activities and reduce reliance on exposures that may be driven mainly by speculation. This distinction is important for investors because agreement revenue is intended to serve as a proxy indicator of continued use and monetization, while market capitalization and token prices may reflect expectations and sentiment, even if monetization is weak on-chain. Quarterly rebalancing of the index means that benchmarks can respond to changes in agreement performance over time, rather than being fixed in a static basket.

Initial constituents and differences from broad benchmarks

The index initially consists of 18 components. In the S & P Dow Jones Index blog post, the top five initial positions were Ethereum (ETH), Binance (BNB), Solana (SOL), Wave Field (TRX) and Hyperliquid (HYPE). The blog also highlighted a key stock selection difference: Bitcoin (BTC) and Ripple (XRP) were identified as the largest non-constituents of the broad digital asset index compared to the S & P cryptocurrencies. This result is consistent with the methodology that prioritizes agreement revenue as an admission and ranking criterion. In other words, assets may have a large market value, but may not become a constituent if they do not meet the income criteria defined in the index rules. For allocators, this is one of the most practical and important impacts of the index. Income-based screening not only changes investors 'positions, but also changes the risks underlying the benchmark targets-from pure token beta to a protocol economy that provides input to the index building process.

Why institutions surpass the market cap index

The launch of the index comes as the entire industry continues to develop institutional cryptocurrency benchmarks. These efforts coincide with the expansion of cryptocurrency capabilities by traditional financial companies and the increasing popularity of tokenized assets, which has increased the need for a standardized measurement framework. In the United States, ETF and index activity accelerated. Hashdex launched the Nasdaq Cryptocurrency Index U.S. ETF on February 14, 2025, which is described as the first multi-asset spot cryptocurrency exchange-traded fund in the United States. Six days later, Franklin Templeton launched the Franklin Cryptocurrency Index ETF, which tracks Bitcoin and Ethereum through the U.S. CF Institution Digital Asset Index (capital-weighted). Other benchmark methods have also emerged. In April, MarketVector Indexes and Coinbase Asset Management launched the Coinbase Value Storage Index, which uses an inverse volatilism-weighted model to combine Bitcoin with tokenized gold-an example of how benchmark designs can shift exposure to different portfolio goals. Market participants believe that as the cryptocurrency ecosystem evolves, diversification across networks and strategies may become more operationally attractive. Previous reports quoted Matt Hougan, chief investment officer of Bitwise, as saying that as investor demand grows and the market becomes more complex, cryptocurrency index funds are expected to become the main theme in 2026. The core reason is that it is increasingly difficult to predict which blockchain networks will become lasting winners, so diversified index solutions are a pragmatic way to gain broad exposure.

S & P's latest move in digital asset benchmark expansion

In addition to this new product, the S & P Dow Jones Indices has been expanding its digital asset benchmark landscape. In October last year, S & P launched the S & P Digital Markets 50 Index, which combines 15 cryptocurrencies with 35 listed companies related to the cryptocurrency ecosystem. The index suggests that S & P is trying different ways to link cryptocurrency exposure to on-chain activity and publicly traded cryptocurrency-related stocks. The new agreement revenue index is more focused and specific: it measures blockchain networks through the economics of agreements. Investors concerned about the evolution of benchmarks should be aware of whether income-based indexing methods will gain attention in products that track indexes, and how issuers translate these rules into investable strategies-particularly in terms of transparency in revenue estimates and how methodological changes affect index constituents over time. Next, investors and portfolio managers may be concerned about how the benchmark performs as agreement monetization trends change from quarter to quarter, and whether the revenue-based framework can attract liquidity and product sponsorship comparable to traditional market cap indices.