S&P Dow Jones Indices, in partnership with Pantera Capital, has introduced the S&P Pantera Digital Asset Index (SPPDA), a new benchmark that prioritizes protocol revenue over market capitalization. The index comprises 18 digital assets and is designed to give institutional investors a structured, fundamentals-based view of the cryptocurrency market.
Unlike traditional market-cap-weighted indexes, the SPPDA screens assets for measurable economic activity. Only networks that demonstrate positive total protocol revenue over the two most recent fiscal quarters are eligible. This revenue-based filter automatically excludes Bitcoin and XRP from the initial lineup, despite their large market caps and broad adoption.
Eligibility also requires a minimum market capitalization and adjusted market capitalization of $500 million, a liquidity ratio above 0.5, and disqualification of meme coins and abandoned projects. Assets are ranked by revenue over the prior two quarters, and the highest-ranked networks are added until they cover up to 99% of total revenue within the eligible group.
Ethereum, BNB, Solana, TRON, and Hyperliquid are the five largest constituents in the index. Pantera noted that the included assets generated more than $3 billion in annualized protocol revenue over the trailing two quarters, spanning blockchain settlement, decentralized lending, and perpetual futures trading.
After selection, the index weights members by adjusted market capitalization, with a cap of 35% for the largest constituent and 20% for all others. The index rebalances quarterly, with changes taking effect after the third Friday of March, June, September, and December. Lukka provides pricing and liquidity data, while Artemis Analytics supplies revenue and supply data.
Cathy Clay, CEO of S&P Dow Jones Indices, described the index as a ‘fundamentals-driven, economics-based framework built for diversified portfolios.’ Dan Morehead, founder and managing partner of Pantera Capital, emphasized that the main challenge for investors is ‘knowing how to allocate,’ and the benchmark is intended to support performance comparisons, active portfolio management, and future index-linked products.