S&P Global’s digital-asset strategy has moved well beyond simply tracking crypto prices. Since launching its first cryptocurrency benchmarks in May 2021, the company has steadily built out a broader framework for how on-chain markets can be measured, compared and assessed for risk. That effort has included DeFi-focused index products, a stablecoin stability assessment framework, and direct publication of those assessments on Base through Chainlink’s DataLink service so smart contracts can read them automatically. The pace picked up in 2025. S&P Global Ratings expanded coverage from traditional issuers into tokenized funds such as Delta Wellington Ultra Short Treasury On-Chain Fund, Janus Henderson Anemoy Treasury Fund and OpenEden Tokenized TBILL Fund. In August 2025, it also assigned Sky Protocol a "B-" issuer credit rating with a stable outlook, marking S&P’s first credit rating for a DeFi protocol. By 2026, S&P had added two more pieces. It combined its digital-asset index business with Kaiko to form S&P Kaiko Digital Asset Indices, a suite launched with more than 4,000 reference prices and indices, and later made a strategic investment in Kaiko without disclosing the amount. On Sept. 17, 2026, S&P Global also said it had signed an agreement to acquire smart-contract security firm OpenZeppelin. The price was not disclosed. Together, those moves point to a broader effort to assemble a stack of pricing, risk, data and security tools for on-chain finance.

Artemis Analytics’ weekly data review pointed to two developments that stood out across crypto markets. On July 20, S&P Dow Jones Indices and Pantera Capital launched the S&P Pantera Digital Asset Index, an 18-token benchmark that screens constituents for protocol revenue before applying capped market-cap weighting. Artemis supplies the revenue classification, circulating supply and total supply data, while Lukka provides pricing. ETH, BNB, SOL, TRX and HYPE are the five largest components by weight, and both BTC and XRP were excluded under the revenue screen. The report also drilled into Robinhood Chain, an Arbitrum Orbit L2 that went live on July 1. For the week of July 18-25, the chain posted $4.7 billion in DEX volume, ranking fourth behind BSC, Ethereum and Base, and ahead of Solana. Even so, Artemis said the economics on the chain are concentrated elsewhere: as of July 25, 70% of TVL came from Morpho and Ethena, Robinhood stock tokens accounted for just 4.2% of TVL, Uniswap handled 98% of DEX flow that day, and memecoin pairs made up 74.7% of trading volume. In Artemis’ framing, Robinhood built distribution, while third-party applications and protocols captured most of the value.

S&P Global has introduced three digital asset indices tracking bitcoin, ether, and a combined mega-cap basket, aiming to improve transparency in the crypto market.

S&P Global, via S&P Dow Jones Indices, launched three crypto indices: S&P Bitcoin Index (SPBTC), S&P Ethereum Index (SPETH), and S&P Crypto Mega Cap Index (SPCMC), powered by Lukka data. The move aims to bring transparency and institutional credibility to the crypto market.

CESR (Composite Ether Staking Rate) is emerging as Ethereum's institutional staking benchmark, tracking validator yields. FalconX executed the first fixed-floating swap, and Rho Labs launched derivatives, paving the way for a $500 trillion rates market in crypto.

The Composite Ether Staking Rate (CESR) is becoming a key institutional reference rate for Ethereum staking yields, with derivatives like swaps and futures already launching, aiming to replicate LIBOR's role in traditional finance.

CESR is becoming a key benchmark for Ethereum staking yields, already supporting swaps, futures and institutional risk models. Its rise could help build a crypto forward rate curve and expand yield-based products.

Institutional digital asset data provider Lukka has announced the acquisition of data provenance and compliance platform PEER DATA. The merged entity will offer a unified control layer for digital asset pricing, classification, provenance, and compliance governance, with expansion plans into on-chain assets and AI data consumption.