S&P Pantera index tracks 18 altcoins, excludes bitcoin for revenue

A new S&P benchmark ranks blockchain networks by protocol revenue, excluding bitcoin entirely.

S&P Dow Jones Indices and Pantera Capital launched a digital asset index that ranks 18 tokens by protocol revenue, excluding bitcoin from the benchmark.

"Bitcoin is not in there because it's really not one of those revenue generating protocols that we think belongs in this index," Kathy Clay, CEO of S&P Dow Jones Indices, told CNBC.

The S&P Pantera Digital Asset Index weights constituents by adjusted market capitalization, with the largest holding capped at 35 percent and all others limited to 20 percent during quarterly rebalancing. Ether, BNB, Solana, Tron and Hyperliquid are its five largest holdings, representing blockchains that generate revenue from on-chain activity. Eligible assets must maintain a market capitalization exceeding $500 million and meet minimum liquidity thresholds before being ranked by protocol revenue over the prior two quarters using data from blockchain analytics platform Artemis.

The benchmark offers institutional investors a rules-based framework for gaining exposure to revenue-generating blockchain networks, potentially serving as the foundation for future exchange-traded products. It arrives as asset managers expand crypto index offerings — Hashdex launched the first multi-asset spot crypto ETF in the US in February 2025, and Franklin Templeton followed days later with a bitcoin-and-ether index fund.

How the Index Differs From Existing Benchmarks

Other high-profile crypto indexes skew heavily toward bitcoin. The Nasdaq CME Crypto Index allocates nearly 77 percent to bitcoin and 13 percent to ether, while the FTSE Digital Asset All Cap Index gives bitcoin a 75 percent weighting. Those allocations reflect bitcoin's roughly 57 percent share of the total crypto market cap, per CoinGecko. The S&P Pantera index takes a different approach, selecting assets based on economic activity rather than market size alone.

Institutional Demand for Revenue-Based Exposure

The launch follows a broader push by traditional finance firms to develop institutional-grade crypto benchmarks. In April, MarketVector Indexes and Coinbase Asset Management launched the Coinbase Store of Value Index, combining bitcoin and tokenized gold. Bitwise chief investment officer Matt Hougan said in December that "crypto index funds are going to be a big deal in 2026" as the market grows more complex and investors seek diversified exposure.

Pantera Capital, which has managed over $3 billion across three investment strategies since its first crypto fund in 2013, co-developed the index methodology with founder Dan Morehead. The benchmark's focus on protocol revenue could accelerate a rotation toward altcoins with verifiable usage, even as retail-driven altcoin season signals remain inconclusive — CoinGlass's Altcoin Season Index stood at 58 in mid-July, below the 75 threshold that confirms a broad rotation.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.