Nasdaq Launches Crypto Index

Without much fanfare, Nasdaq launched its Nasdaq Crypto Index (NCI) in December. 

Nasdaq has created the NCI to serve as an industry benchmark for digital assets, and it is intended to be dynamic and broadly representative of the cryptocurrency market. The NCI tracks the performance of a diverse basket of USD-traded digital assets, each of which is evaluated along liquidity, exchange, and custody standards. In order to be included in the Index, assets must be traded on at least three vetted “Core Exchanges” and supported by at least two “Core Custodians.” The Index is free-float market cap weighted and will be rebalanced and reconstituted on a quarterly basis. Core Exchanges and Core Custodians are evaluated on an annual basis. 

The Index is calculated by CF Benchmarks Ltd., a regulated, London-based calculation agent with a focus on calculating and administering Digital Asset Indices. The initial list of digital assets included in the Index, their weighting, and core exchanges are as follows: 

Hashdex announced that it is listing an ETF that is based on the NCI on the Bermuda Stock Exchange. For more information about the NCI, please see https://www.nasdaq.com/Crypto-Index and https://www.cfbenchmarks.com/indices/BRTI. 

LEGAL TOKENS

Nasdaq’s creation of a cryptoindex (in conjunction with Hashdex) is just one more example of institutional players taking an interest in crypto and blockchain. Now that Canada and Bermuda have approved the listing of crypto ETFs, can the U.S. be far behind? For now, it looks like the answer unfortunately is “yes.”