CME Emerging Crypto Index Starts Without Bitcoin or Ethereum
CME’s Bitcoin-and-Ether-free benchmark has arrived, but an official research portfolio suggests four tokens could drive nearly all its performance from one review to the next.
Key Takeaways
- CME now publishes two multi-asset crypto benchmarks.
- Emerging benchmark excludes Bitcoin and Ether.
- Four tokens held 92.7% indicative weight.
- Neither index currently settles CME contracts.
Four tokens occupied 92.7% of the research portfolio
The name “Emerging Crypto Index” suggests a wide view of the market beyond Bitcoin and Ether. CF Benchmarks’ own research shows why investors should look past that label and examine where the weight sits.
An official CF Benchmarks graphic published on August 13 assigned the following indicative weights:
| Asset | Research weight |
|---|---|
| BNB | 32.0% |
| XRP | 27.6% |
| Solana | 18.5% |
| HYPE | 14.6% |
| All remaining assets | 7.3% |
Source: CF Benchmarks research portfolio graphic, August 13, 2026.
BNB and XRP alone supplied 59.6% of the indicative allocation. Solana and HYPE raised the combined share of the four largest positions to 92.7%, leaving every other asset to divide the final 7.3%.
The graphic is labeled a research portfolio, not the confirmed August 31 constituent file. Its weights should therefore be read as evidence of how the methodology may behave—not as a definitive list of the live index positions.
Even as an illustration, the gap is large enough to matter. A 10% BNB move at the research weight would add approximately 3.2 percentage points to the portfolio before other changes were considered. The same move across the entire 7.3% remainder would contribute about 0.73 percentage points.
What CME launched and what it did not
CME Group began publishing the CME CF Crypto Market Index and CME CF Emerging Crypto Index on August 31. CF Benchmarks administers both, while CME distributes real-time readings approximately once per second.
CF Benchmarks, which administers both indices, states that the CME CF Crypto Market Index includes Bitcoin and Ether, while the Emerging Crypto Index excludes both. The second benchmark therefore measures eligible crypto assets beyond the market’s two largest tokens.
Each benchmark also receives daily London, New York and APAC reference values, including on weekends and bank holidays. Those readings can help firms value portfolios or compare performance across regions.
CME launched prices, not an investment product
The word “settlement” in the regional index names refers to a fixed daily reading. The CME launch notice states that neither benchmark will settle a contract.
No futures contract, ETF or fund accompanied the launch. CME did not buy the underlying tokens, and publishing their prices does not create automatic demand for them. A tradable product could use either benchmark later, but that would require a separate announcement and product structure.
Removing BTC and ETH did not spread the weight
The broad-market research portfolio assigned 83.8% to Bitcoin and Ether. Taking both out solved one problem for anyone seeking an altcoin reference, but it did not produce an evenly balanced basket. Most of the influence simply moved to the next-largest eligible assets.
That outcome follows the construction rules. Full market capitalization helps decide which eligible assets enter the index; free-float capitalization determines their weight after entry.
Free float counts the supply considered available to market participants rather than every token ever issued. Closely held, locked or otherwise unavailable supply can reduce an asset’s weight relative to its headline market capitalization.
This is not a flaw in the benchmark. A capitalization-weighted index is designed to reflect the market’s existing shape. It does, however, mean that a basket can contain several tokens while its direction remains tied to only a few.
Another methodology produces another market
Which tokens appear important depends on what an index is built to measure. Our analysis of the S&P Pantera revenue-based crypto index examined a basket that first screens projects for tokenholder revenue, then sizes their positions using adjusted market capitalization.
CME and CF Benchmarks start from a broader investible universe instead of requiring revenue. That makes their index a closer representation of available crypto market value, but it also preserves more of the concentration already present in that market.
Rank buffers limit unnecessary turnover when assets hover around the selection cutoff. Formal reviews occur in June and December, allowing sustained changes in market leadership to reach the benchmark without rebuilding it after every short-lived price move.
The first live test comes in December
The confirmed constituent file will provide the first clean answer about how closely the launch portfolio resembles the August research example. The December review will then show how readily the benchmark responds when altcoins change rank.
A separate product announcement would change the stakes. Until CME or another issuer ties a fund, futures contract or structured product to the index, it remains a measurement tool rather than a direct source of capital flows.
That distinction also matters when index rules affect public companies. Coindoo’s report on possible index changes affecting Strategy and Metaplanet showed that inclusion criteria can shape eligibility without guaranteeing a specific amount of buying or selling.
CME has made the crypto market beyond Bitcoin and Ether easier for institutions to track. The open question is not how many tokens qualify, but how much influence survives outside its four largest positions.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Research portfolio weights may differ from the live index composition and can change during scheduled reviews.
Alex is Editor-in-Chief of Coindoo and co-founder of Millennial Media Group, with nearly a decade of experience covering financial markets - crypto first, then everything else. It started in 2016 with Bitcoin. Like most people at the time, he didn't fully understand it - so he kept digging. Blockchain, tokenomics, the projects, the cycles. That curiosity never stopped, and eventually pulled him into traditional markets too: equities, commodities, macro. Not because he left crypto behind, but because you can't properly understand one without the other. What drives him is straightforward: he wants to know why something is happening, not just that it's happening. Most market coverage stops at the headline - price up, price down, here's a chart. Alex finds that kind of reporting actively unhelpful. If you walk away from an article without understanding the mechanism behind the move, what did you actually learn? He holds a degree in Tourism from New Bulgarian University - not the most obvious path into financial markets, but markets have a way of pulling in people who are simply too curious to stay out. He has authored over 200 in-depth analyses and more than 10,000 articles across crypto and traditional finance. He still thinks every day in markets teaches him something new. That's probably why he hasn't stopped.
