S&P Dow Jones Launches Crypto Indices

Crypto is on its way to the mainstream in the United States. One of the most recognized indices, S&P Dow Jones has launched indices to track the performance of Bitcoin and ethereum on the market. This means that investors on Wall Street can now add digital coins to their investment portfolios.

On Tuesday, the 4th of May, the major index announced the launch of new indices to track major cryptocurrencies. These indices are the S&P Bitcoin Index, S&P Ethereum Index, and the S&P Cryptocurrency MegaCap Index, and they all will measure the coins associated with them. Other digital assets will be added as time progresses, according to S&P Dow Jones.

Plans to launch these indices were first disclosed by the global division of S&P Global in December, where it said it would cover about 550 of the most traded crypto coins and enable clients to create customized indices on them. The company's senior director of innovation and strategy,

Sharon Leibowitz, said in a statement, "The cryptocurrency space is unlike traditional financial markets, and certainly unlike the ones we have benchmarked at S&P DJI over the last 100 years."

Peter Roffman, who's the global head of innovation and strategy at S&P DJI is convinced this is a terrific idea. As more people are embracing crypto as a means of exchange, investors deserve to have access to familiar and reliable standards that are supported by quality pricing data. In a statement on behalf of the company, he was quoted saying the traditional financial markets and digital assets don't have to be "mutually exclusive markets."

Launched in 2012 as a joint venture between S&P Global and the CME Group, S&P Dow Jones Indices produces, maintains, licenses, and markets stock market indices as benchmarks or investable products like ETFs, mutual funds, and structured products.

A market index follows any particular market and provides its investors with a single number to estimate its activity (ups and downs). This enables investors to track a market as an entity without having to follow and analyse all of its components, making it convenient and easier for investors interested in numerous securities to keep them in sight of track.

This week, ETH surged to an all-time high of $3,500, bringing its total market cap to over $378 billion. The value of the coin has increased by over 350% this year alone, with experts expecting it to reach $5,000 in a few weeks. 

On the other hand,  Bicoin has been trying to climb up to the over $60,000 it reached last month. It currently is fluctuating at around $58,000.