Key Points

A fresh crypto benchmark has been introduced.
It seeks to combine and monitor assets that generate revenue and share it with owners.
XRP and Bitcoin are absent from the benchmark, yet Ethereum, Solana, and Hyperliquid are present.
10 stocks we favor over Ethereum ›

In late July, S&P Global and Pantera Capital introduced a new digital asset benchmark grounded solely in financial fundamentals. Two well-known tokens, Bitcoin and XRP, did not meet the standards, while Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), Hyperliquid (CRYPTO: HYPE), and Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) were selected, together with several similar assets.

Those differing outcomes provide the strongest signal so far about which tokens large investors will seek to acquire and retain in the next crypto upswing.

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The signal comes from what was excluded

The S&P Pantera Digital Asset (SPPDA) Index contains only tokens whose networks produce actual revenue and route that revenue to owners. It targets financial institutions that require a reliable crypto reference point free of the most speculative or unproductive cryptocurrencies.

To grasp the meaning, consider that blockchains collect transaction fees from users. Summing those fees yields protocol revenue, which functions much like sales income from a usage-based service in crypto.

Unlike a standard market-cap-weighted crypto benchmark, the SPPDA index keeps only assets that surpass a revenue minimum.

Meeting the threshold is not sufficient for inclusion. The rules also demand that part of the revenue reaches holders via token buybacks, coin burns that reduce supply, or staking rewards that exceed new issuance dilution. As a result, most tokens in the index possess genuine financial fundamentals, making ownership resemble holding a productive business stake.

Bitcoin shows substantial transaction volume, yet none of the fees benefit holders as revenue. They instead reward miners, so Bitcoin is left out.

XRP appeared likely to qualify until the figures were examined. Its fees are minimal, so even burning them barely affects supply. Holders therefore gain little from on-chain activity. This exclusion signals that assets lacking mechanisms to deliver upside will likely be avoided going forward.

Low fees also fail to produce enough protocol revenue to compete for limited index spots. In June, Solana generated $1.5 million in chain revenue while the XRP Ledger produced only $12,392. Even a tenfold increase would not secure inclusion.

This benchmark may serve as an institutional guide

The index criteria reflect what institutional investors will seek when selecting assets for the next crypto bull market.

The benchmark spares them the task of filtering out inactive chains, meme tokens, questionable DeFi assets, and untested projects in pursuit of quality. As the index may eventually become an ETF, it could influence the sector by prompting projects to build fee-capture systems that distribute at least some revenue to holders.

Thus, the next crypto bull market should be driven by tokens with robust protocol revenue and favorable holder tokenomics.

Financial fundamentals, once overlooked in crypto, will emerge as the key focus for investors. Relying on narrative or hype alone for assets without fundamentals appears far less attractive in comparison.

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Alex Carchidi has positions in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin, Ethereum, Hyperliquid, S&P Global, Solana, and XRP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.