S&P Global dives into crypto with new index

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S&P Global announced plans to launch the “S&P Digital Markets 50 Index,” designed to track a wide range of companies and digital assets connected to the crypto ecosystem. The index will combine digital currencies and publicly traded crypto-linked equities.

S&P Global provides governments, businesses, and individuals with market data, expertise, and technology solutions for decision-making. The company is perhaps best known for being the co-operator of the S&P 500, an equity index that tracks the stock performance of 500 leading companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States, which is one of the most commonly followed equity indices and includes approximately 80% of the total market capitalization of U.S. public companies.

S&P Global’s move, in collaboration with leading provider of tokenized U.S. public securities Dinari, to launch an equivalent index for 50 top digital asset players can be seen as indicative of the sector’s increasing mainstream appeal, as much as of the current purple patch its experiencing.

“Cryptocurrencies and the broader digital asset industry have moved from the margins into a more established role in global markets,” said Cameron Drinkwater, Chief Product and Operations Officer at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “From North America to Europe to Asia, market participants are beginning to treat digital assets as part of their investment toolkit – whether for diversification, growth, or innovation strategies.” 

The entities making up the new index have yet to be named, but it will include 35 companies involved in digital asset 
operations, infrastructure providers, financial services, blockchain applications, and supporting technologies, as well as 15 cryptocurrencies selected from the S&P Cryptocurrency Broad Digital Market Index. Reportedly, no single component will exceed 5% of the index.

“The planned launch of the S&P Digital Markets 50 Index comes as demand for broader and more diversified exposure to decentralized financial markets continues to rise,” said the company in its October 7 press release. “S&P Global believes this will provide market participants interested in exploring crypto-linked opportunities with a measure of performance across both sides of the crypto ecosystem.”

This latest index is not S&P’s first foray into digital asset products, as the company has launched a series of digital asset “benchmarks,” including the ‘S&P Cryptocurrency Indices’ that tracks the performance of a selection of top cryptocurrencies.

Funds have also been launched by other firms, such as the Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund (BITW), which tracks the largest digital assets by market capitalization, and Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF (NCIQ), which traces the Nasdaq Crypto Index, providing exposure to major cryptocurrencies through regulated exchange-traded products (ETPs).

However, the S&P Digital Markets 50 Index will combine digital assets and blockchain-related companies, signaling growing recognition of the digital asset sector within traditional finance (TradFi).

“For the first time, investors can access both U.S. equities and digital assets in a single, transparent product,” said Anna Wroblewska, Chief Business Officer at Dinari. “By making the S&P Digital Markets 50 investible via dShares, we are not just tokenizing an index, we are demonstrating how blockchain infrastructure can modernize trusted benchmarks.”

She added that the launch “shows how onchain technology can expand the reach of established financial standards, making them more efficient, accessible, and globally relevant.”

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