(Bloomberg) — CME Group Inc. is set to offer investors broadened access to a greater range of cryptocurrencies on traditional markets, launching 11 new reference rates and real-time indices.
Alongside its existing Bitcoin and Ether rates, the derivatives marketplace said its partnership with CF Benchmarks will expand to include reference rates and indices for Algorand, Bitcoin Cash, Cardano, Chainlink, Cosmos, Litecoin, Polkadot, Polygon, Solana, Stellar and Uniswap. Reference rates are usually used as a benchmark for other financial products.
The additions mean more availability for traders and fund managers to evaluate portfolio risk and create structured products like exchange-traded products based on cryptocurrencies. Such products have been available for many years in regions like Europe and Canada, but only recently gained approval in the U.S., which approved its first ETF linked to Bitcoin futures in October last year.
The new benchmarks for alternative tokens, also known as altcoins, capture over 90% of the crypto sector’s total investible market capitalization, said Tim McCourt, CME’s global head of equity and FX products. The overall market value for digital assets was more than $2 trillion on Thursday, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
“As the digital asset market continues to expand, there is an increasing demand for reliable, standardized cryptocurrency pricing information based on robust, regulated reference rates,” said McCourt in a statement on Thursday.
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Crypto ETPs could swell to over $120 billion in assets under management by 2028, according to analysis by Bloomberg Intelligence this month. Analysts expect flows into cryptocurrency funds will likely accelerate if a U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETF is approved soon, which could come by the end of 2023.
Data for the new benchmarks will be calculated and published daily by CF Benchmarks starting April 25, using pricing information from crypto exchanges Bitstamp, Coinbase, Gemini, itBit and Kraken. London-based exchange LMAX Digital will also contribute data from May onwards.
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