CME Unveils Altcoin-Focused Benchmarks Excluding Bitcoin and Ether

CME Group has launched two new cryptocurrency benchmarks that deliberately exclude Bitcoin and Ether. The CME CF Emerging Crypto Index and the CME CF Crypto Market Index went live on August 31, offering market participants separate ways to measure crypto assets.

The Emerging Crypto Index tracks 10 altcoins: BNB, XRP, Solana, Hyperliquid, Chainlink, Stellar Lumens, Sui, Uniswap, Avalanche, and Aave. The companion index, the Crypto Market Index, includes these same tokens plus Bitcoin and Ether, creating a 12-asset benchmark for the large-cap crypto market.

The indexes use free-float market capitalization to determine constituent weights, updating in real time every second. Separate settlement versions are published once a day at 4 p.m. in London, New York, and Singapore/Hong Kong.

Research from CF Benchmarks indicates significant concentration among the largest positions. The four largest assets, BNB, XRP, Solana, and HYPE, account for 92.7% of an indicative portfolio.