FTSE Russell Introduces 3 Crypto Indexes
The FTSE Digital Asset Index Series provides a mechanism for investors to evaluate digital asset investments and prices.
Crypto assets have yet to move into the mainstream, but they are increasingly involving traditional financial firms. Among the latest examples, FTSE Russell, which has introduced three new digital asset indexes — for Bitcoin, Ethereum and Cardano, a newer and much cheaper digital asset. It trades at about $2, compared with Bitcoin, above $60,000 and Ethereum, above $4,000.
FTSE Russell worked with Digital Asset Research (DAR), a data and research platform, to develop the indexes.
“The FTSE Digital Asset Index Series is designed to provide market participants a mechanism to evaluate digital asset investments and prices,” according to FTSE Russell. The firm says it developed the indexes “in response to investor demand for benchmarks that accurately and methodically capture the performance of digital assets and allow for a more seamless integration into traditional portfolio analysis and processes.”
The indexes’ underlying pricing uses a methodology designed to capture data from vetted exchanges, which are monitored throughout the day. The indexes can be used as performance benchmarks or as the basis for index-lined products such as derivatives and ETFs, according to FTSE.
Kristen Mierzwa, managing director, ETP Strategy and Business Development, FTSE Russell, said in a statement that the launch of the indexes “reflects our combined expertise in digital asset data and index development, as well as our rigorous approach to compliance, governance, markets and performance measurement.”
In other crypto news, the two Bitcoin futures ETFs that launched last week — the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) and the Valkyrie Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BTF) — have been trading at or below their launch prices most of the time since their debuts.