S&P Goes Live With Bitcoin, Ethereum Crypto Indexes

S&P Dow Jones Indices launched its first three cryptocurrency indexes Monday, according to documents reviewed by CoinDesk.

The crypto indexes, S&P’s first, carry ticker symbols SPBTC, SPETH and SPCMC – one for bitcoin, ether and a “MegaCap” combo of the two. An accompanying methodology document stated the trio are using data from partner firm Lukka.

S&P’s crypto indexes are poised to add more visibility to bitcoin and ether data among Wall Street traders hungry to decode crypto price action. The products will compete against existing indexes from Bloomberg and Galaxy.

In an FAQ, S&P said it uses Lukka Prime’s “Fair Market Value Pricing” methodology to render an asset’s price in points, not dollars. The methodology yielded the following point valuations Monday afternoon: 7,611 for BTC, 24,811 for ETH and 5,617 for MegaCap.

Each index measures price appreciation, not the actual price, said S&P spokesman Ray McConville. “So comparing the two indices, we can see that bitcoin YTD (year to date) has grown 95.67% in value vs. ETH, which has grown 273.72% in value YTD,” he said via email. “The actual index value isn’t so much as important as the change in that index value over time.”

Representatives for Lukka didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.