S&P Dow Jones Indices is eyeing the launch of a crypto index next year

Market index provider S&P Dow Jones Indices is diving into the crypto market with the help of crypto startup Lukka. 

Formed in 2012 by S&P Global, S&P Dow Jones Indices is the firm behind Wall Street's ubiquitous indices including Wall Street's S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average. S&P DJI plans to leverage Lukka's data services, including Lukka Reference and Lukka Prime, which provides a single price for crypto assets based on information from several exchanges, over-the-counter trading desks, and wallets.  

S&P DJI expects to soon launch customizable crypto index capabilities, which will allow asset-management firms to build their own investment vehicles, such as exchange-traded products. In 2021, S&P DJI plans to launch its own branded index — essentially, an S&P 500-like index but for the crypto market. 

“For more than a century, S&P Dow Jones Indices has been a pioneer in creating innovative and relevant indices and benchmarks that reflect the global market’s ongoing growth and evolution," said Peter Roffman, Global Head of Innovation and Strategy at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “With digital assets such as cryptocurrencies becoming a rapidly emerging asset class, the time is right for independent, reliable and user-friendly benchmarks."

S&P would not be the only financial services firm active in the crypto index market. Nasdaq, the global stock exchange-operator, recently launched the Nasdaq Crypto Index with Brazilian fund manager Hashdex to serve as the basis for an exchange-traded fund on the Bermuda Stock Exchange. In 2018, financial data behemoth Bloomberg LP launched the Galaxy Bloomberg Crypto Index, a benchmark of the largest cryptocurrencies.