CME Group and CF Benchmarks have rolled out two new multi-asset crypto indices, giving institutional traders a standardized way to measure the market beyond its two biggest names.
The launch landed on August 31, 2026.
The pair arrives alongside two other updates from CME. Position offsets are now available for Bitcoin and Ether futures, and the exchange upgraded its options dashboard tool.
Two indices, two different jobs
The first product is the CME CF Crypto Market Index. It bundles Bitcoin and Ether with a group of 10 additional digital assets.
The second is the CME CF Emerging Crypto Index, which deliberately leaves out Bitcoin and Ether and tracks 10 tokens instead.
Both indices use free-float market-cap weighting. A token’s weight depends on the value of its supply that is actually available to trade, not coins locked away or held by insiders.
Real-time index values are published approximately every second. Daily settlement prices are calculated across multiple time zones, including London, New York, and APAC.
Constituents get reviewed twice a year, in June and December. The launch followed a testing phase that began on August 24, 2026.
Emerging, but very top-heavy
BNB holds approximately 32% of the Emerging Crypto Index. XRP comes in at around 27.6%, Solana at 18.5%, and Hyperliquid at 14.6%.
Together, those four tokens make up nearly 92.7% of the index. The rest of the lineup shares a very thin slice.
The semiannual review schedule matters here. Rebalancing in June and December could shift those weights as market caps change, so the current lineup is a snapshot, not a permanent fixture.
No products attached, for now
Neither index is linked to new futures, options, or ETFs on CME at launch. Nobody can trade them directly today.
Standardized pricing gives fund managers a consistent yardstick for performance tracking and risk management, and the second-by-second publication cadence suits desks that need live reference rates.
The infrastructure updates
The position offsets for Bitcoin and Ether futures sit alongside the index news rather than inside it. They are an infrastructure upgrade for existing contracts, giving traders more flexibility in how they manage positions.
The upgraded options dashboard tool rounds out the package.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Vivian Nguyen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.