S&P Launches New Crypto Index. The Digital Markets 50 Will Give Diversified Exposure.

Bitcoin is the most prominent of 15 cryptocurrencies in the new index. (Suhaimi Abdullah/Bloomberg)

Key Points

• S&P Dow Jones Indices launched the S&P Digital Markets 50, a new index combining 15 cryptocurrencies and 35 crypto-related stocks.
• The index, developed with Dinari, aims to provide diversified exposure to digital assets and will be available on Dinari’s dShares platform.
• No single asset will exceed 5% of the index; new equities require a $100 million market cap, and new cryptocurrencies need a $300 million market cap.

Crypto stocks have grown so popular they are getting their own index.

S&P Dow Jones Indices, the group behind the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, announced a new index Tuesday designed to meet the growing investor demand for diversified exposure to digital assets.

The S&P Digital Markets 50, launched in collaboration with blockchain company Dinari, will aggregate 15 major cryptocurrencies and 35 stocks tied to crypto. Eligible stocks include companies spanning crypto operations, blockchain technology, and more, S&P said.

“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 officer at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “S&P DJI’s expanded index suite offers market participants consistent, rules-based tools to evaluate and gain exposure to this segment.”

Dinari, which provides tokenized securities, will release an investable token that tracks the new benchmark. Tokenization refers to digitizing equities to trade through decentralized blockchains rather than a traditional exchange. The index will be available on Dinari’s dShares platform by the end of the year.

With crypto prices rising and federal regulators taking a friendlier approach to digital assets under the Trump administration, companies like S&P and Dinari are vying to build crypto products that can win over not just retail traders, but also more buttoned-up institutional investors.

In conversations with investment funds and wealth managers, Dinari CEO Gabriel Otte noticed growing demand for digital asset exposure, even if investors deemed it too risky to buy individual tokens.

“What they were hearing from their clients was ‘we want some exposure to crypto,’” Otte said. “They kind of wanted the [S&P 500] of the space.”

No single asset will make up more than 5% of the Digital Markets 50, S&P said. New equity constituents must have a market cap of $100 million and potential new cryptocurrencies must have a market cap of $300 million. A full constituent list wasn’t yet available, but S&P confirmed the index would be subject to the same quarterly rebalancing and governance processes as its other indices.

“We’re trying to make sure you’re getting diverse exposure to the space,” Drinkwater told Barron’s.

S&P has launched multi-asset class indices before, but the combination of stocks and crypto is a first for the company. It also wasn’t possible to invest in that kind of index on traditional financial markets, said Drinkwater, hence the need for a tokenized trading partner like Dinari.

It isn’t a coincidence that the Digital Markets 50 is launching during a banner year for crypto stocks. Coinbase Global is up 55% in 2025, the Bitcoin treasury company Strategy has climbed 24%, and Circle Internet Group the year’s strongest initial public offerings. Bitcoin itself hit a record high on Sunday.

But cryptocurrencies and crypto-adjacent stocks remain highly volatile even as the industry matures. Indexing should make returns a bit more stable for investors. Make no mistake, though, volatility is part of the appeal.

Write to Nate Wolf at nate.wolf@barrons.com