Key highlights:
- S&P and Pantera Capital unveiled an 18-asset digital asset index.
- Bitcoin and meme coins were not included in the new fund.
- Ethereum, BNB, Solana, Tron, and Hyperliquid are the largest holdings.
S&P Dow Jones Indices and Pantera Capital revealed on Tuesday the S&P Pantera Digital Asset Index. This is a new benchmark that would help institutional investors track digital assets with measurable revenue. Surprisingly, Bitcoin was not included.
@SPDJIndices and Pantera Capital have launched the S&P Pantera Digital Asset Index, designed to serve as a benchmark for institutional investors seeking a more disciplined and structured approach to digital asset allocation.
By focusing on quality and real-world utility, the… pic.twitter.com/3RIzqgkbZZ— S&P Global (@SPGlobal) July 21, 2026
The new index fund contains 18 coins, which were chosen based on their ability to generate recurring revenue.
S&P launches new crypto benchmark without Bitcoin
In a press release, the firms shared the news of a fund that totally excludes BTC. This especially piqued the attention of investors. The new index also left out meme coins.
The benchmark is focusing on projects that would meet strict standards regarding revenue generation, liquidity, and market cap. The five largest holdings in the index are Ethereum, BNB, Solana, Tron, and Hyperliquid.
The full list of all 18 assets has not been publicly disclosed. Pantera Capital, however, confirmed that Aave is among the picks.
According to the firms, the assets generated over $3 billion in annualized revenue during the previous two quarters. That focus on revenue is what makes the index different from the existing crypto products.
Revenue is the main selection criteria
Companies in the S&P 500 must meet certain financial standards. That principle was also applied here. The digital assets in this benchmark must show strong economic activity.
To qualify, projects have had positive revenue for consecutive quarters and must meet minimum revenue thresholds. The data is verified using analytics provided by Artemis
“In collaboration with Pantera and powered by Artemis data, we apply the same standards in trusted benchmarks like the S&P 500,” Cathy Clay, CEO at S&P Dow Jones Indices, shared.
The protocol must also provide value to token holders through options like staking rewards, token buybacks, and others.
New coins must have a market cap of at least $500 million and a liquidity ratio greater than 0.5 before they can be added. The current assets in the crypto index fund are permitted a lower market cap of $250 million.
After screening the assets, S&P would rank them based on the revenue they generated over the past two quarters. The final basket includes coins that represent 99% of the total revenue generated by the eligible tokens.
The assets are then weighted using adjusted market cap, with safeguards to prevent any single holding from dominating the index. The largest position is capped at 35%, while all other holdings are limited to 20%.
Why Bitcoin was left out
Bitcoin's exclusion raised some eyebrows among experts in the crypto industry. BTC usually dominates institutional products and is still the largest crypto by market value. But the new benchmark is based on protocol-level revenue and not market size.
BTC works differently from many smart-contract platforms, so it does not fit the structure for this index.
Some experts said that the decision tells them that there is now a major shift in the crypto market when looking at assets to invest in. BTC has been repeatedly tagged as “just a digital store of value.” Networks like ETH and SOL, on the other hand, see a lot of investor activity on their blockchain, which generates economic activity.
