Defining the Broader Digital Asset Class Through Two New Benchmarks

On 31 August, two multi-asset benchmarks will join the CME CF Regulated Cryptocurrency Futures suite: the CME CF Crypto Market Index and the CME CF Emerging Crypto Index, both administered by CF Benchmarks.

Together, the benchmarks provide complementary views of the digital asset market. The CME CF Crypto Market Index includes Bitcoin and Ether and is designed to represent the broader liquid market, providing broad market beta, while the CME CF Emerging Crypto Index excludes both assets to capture emerging leaders and structurally important disruptors across the wider digital asset ecosystem.

Both benchmarks use a common eligibility framework but apply different selection rules, allowing them to measure distinct segments of the crypto market. Eligibility comes before size.

Market capitalization is important, but size alone does not make an asset suitable for an institutional benchmark. Both methodologies start with the CF Investible Universe and apply a sequence of eligibility screens before selecting a portfolio.

Before either index selects its constituents, the framework applies six ground rules designed to promote replicability and resilience.

The criteria are defined in advance and applied consistently at each scheduled review.

Selection and weighting do different jobs

After eligibility is established, selection and weighting perform separate jobs. Full market capitalization determines which eligible assets enter. Free-float market capitalization determines their weights.

In both indices, free float excludes supply that is not readily accessible to market participants, sharpening the representation of investible liquidity and supporting more efficient index implementation.

Why there are two indices

The CME CF Crypto Market Index offers broad-market exposure while applying rules-based guidelines designed to identify assets with demonstrated product-market fit. With Bitcoin and Ether remaining eligible, the index can reflect prevailing market concentration without imposing an active cap or thematic tilt.

The CME CF Emerging Crypto Index offers exposure to tokens beyond Bitcoin and Ether that are demonstrating growing adoption and strengthening blockchain network fundamentals. Its exclusion rule changes the segment being measured, rather than the eligibility standards applied to it.

Together, the indices separate broad-market performance from emerging leadership beyond Bitcoin and Ether, providing distinct views of established market beta and the fundamental drivers shaping the next generation of the digital asset class.

Why rank buffers matter

Rank buffers are applied at each review to balance responsiveness with stability. An eligible asset that moves decisively within the portfolio boundary can enter through a defined route, while marginal changes in rank near the cut-off do not automatically trigger constituent changes.

This allows meaningful shifts in market leadership to be reflected in the portfolio while limiting unnecessary turnover caused by small movements around the selection threshold. For index users, the result is a more predictable review process, greater portfolio stability and improved replicability. Both indices are reviewed semiannually, in June and December.

What becomes available on August 31

Each index will be available as a real-time measure, alongside London, New York and APAC settlement variants. The methodology guides provide the controlling definitions, including detailed eligibility, selection, weighting and review rules.

CF Benchmarks Research will publish a paper on each index next week, examining how the methodologies translate into portfolio construction and how those portfolios have performed historically.

The two new indices are not simply different ways of expressing the same exposure. They provide two distinct measures of the digital asset class, separating broad-market exposure from emerging leadership and allowing investors to treat each as a different allocation decision.

Our research team recently hosted an X space with our CEO Sui Chung to discuss the indices further. Click here to listen to the recording.