S&P and Pantera Launch First Revenue-Based Digital Asset Index; TRON Among Top Five Holdings

S&P and Pantera Launch First "Revenue-Based" Digital Asset Index; TRON Secures Top-Five Core Holding

S&P Dow Jones Indices and Pantera Capital jointly launched the S&P Pantera Digital Asset Index on July 21, the industry's first digital asset benchmark using "protocol revenue" as its core screening criterion. The index selects 18 constituent assets from the broader crypto market, with Ethereum, TRON, BNB, Solana, and Hyperliquid comprising the five largest core holdings, while Bitcoin and XRP were notably excluded due to their lack of a direct protocol revenue model. Backtesting shows the index delivered an annualized return of 25% over the past three years, significantly outperforming traditional market-cap-weighted benchmarks. TRON's inclusion—driven by over $90 billion in USDT issuance, daily stablecoin transfer volumes exceeding $20 billion, and innovative positioning in AI agent payments—marks a key highlight, signaling that traditional financial institutions are accelerating their embrace of crypto asset allocation anchored in real on-chain revenue.

S&P Dow Jones Indices Pantera Capital TRON Ethereum S&P Pantera Digital Asset Index Bitcoin Protocol Revenue USDT BNB Solana Hyperliquid

Global index provider S&P Dow Jones Indices and prominent crypto investment firm Pantera Capital jointly launched the S&P Pantera Digital Asset Index on July 21—the industry's first digital asset benchmark to use "protocol revenue" as its core screening criterion. The index's debut signals that institutional investors are shifting from simply chasing market capitalization and token prices toward a deeper assessment of blockchain networks' real profitability and on-chain economic activity.

TRON (TRX) successfully gained inclusion in the index and ranks among the five largest weighted constituent assets alongside Ethereum (ETH), BNB, Solana (SOL), and Hyperliquid (HYPE). This outcome underscores TRON's leading position across fundamental dimensions including protocol revenue, network utility, and on-chain settlement scale. It also marks a significant milestone, as TRON's over $90 billion in USDT issuance, 4 million daily active users, and robust protocol revenue have earned recognition from top-tier traditional financial institutions.

Reshaping Crypto Benchmarks with "Real Revenue"

Unlike previous crypto indices centered on market-cap weighting or token prices, the S&P Pantera Digital Asset Index is the first to position "protocol revenue" as the core yardstick for assessing digital asset value.

In terms of methodology, the index selects constituents from the S&P Cryptocurrency Broad Digital Asset Index, including only assets that simultaneously meet minimum thresholds for protocol revenue, market capitalization, and liquidity. Assets are then ranked by cumulative protocol revenue over the past two quarters and weighted by adjusted market capitalization. Under the rules, the single largest holding is capped at a 35% weight, with remaining constituents generally capped at 20%, and the index undergoes quarterly rebalancing.

S&P Dow Jones Indices emphasized that this rigorous, rules-based framework is purpose-built for institutional allocation needs, designed to clearly distinguish "proven, mature blockchain activity" from "purely speculative exposure." The index can serve both as an underlying benchmark for investment products and as a reference for actively managed portfolios.

According to S&P Dow Jones Indices' official blog, the inaugural index includes 18 constituent assets. Under this stringent "protocol revenue first" mechanism, Bitcoin (BTC) and XRP emerged as the most notable exclusions relative to the broader index, failing to qualify. This stark contrast demonstrates that TRON distinguished itself through sustained, real, and quantifiable on-chain revenue and network utility value.

Pantera Capital founder Dan Morehead stated: "We built an index that can truly discern which crypto assets and infrastructure are essential."

Backtesting data further validates the methodology's effectiveness. Despite excluding Bitcoin, the index delivered an annualized return of 25% over the past three years, far exceeding the S&P Cryptocurrency Broad Digital Asset Index's 14% return over the same period—an outperformance exceeding 10 percentage points.

TRON: From Cross-Border Payment Powerhouse to AI-Era Financial Infrastructure

TRON's ability to rank prominently in this "revenue-based" index stems from the real economic activity settled on its network. To date, on-chain USDT issuance on TRON has surpassed the $90 billion mark. In full-year 2025, TRON processed approximately $7.9 trillion in USDT transfers, with daily USDT transfer volumes consistently exceeding $20 billion. The network also handles roughly 65% of global sub-$1,000 retail USDT transfers, firmly dominating the small-value cross-border remittance space.

As artificial intelligence advances toward the era of autonomous AI agents, traditional banking account systems struggle to accommodate AI's demands for high-frequency, micro-value, and non-human-authorized settlement. TRON is leveraging its powerful network efficiency to serve as critical infrastructure bridging AI and Web3 financial systems. TRON has established and expanded a $1 billion AI fund, focused on agent identity systems, micropayment settlement, and on-chain computing services. Within its ecosystem, B.AI—the financial infrastructure built for the AI agent era—has already pioneered scenarios where AI agents seamlessly pay for access to top-tier global large language models via cryptographic on-chain wallets.

From supporting massive cross-border remittances for human users to providing decentralized high-frequency payment and resource-access infrastructure for AI agents, TRON has formed a powerful network flywheel effect. This ecosystem loop, jointly driven by real payment demand and cutting-edge AI innovation, not only generates substantial and stable protocol revenue for the network but also elevates TRON from a traditional payment channel into a forward-looking intelligent value internet infrastructure.

A New Course for Digital Assets Amid Institutionalization

This is not S&P Dow Jones Indices' first foray into digital assets. As early as October 2025, the firm launched the "S&P Digital Markets 50 Index," comprising 15 crypto assets and 35 related publicly traded companies. The joint launch of a dedicated protocol-revenue-focused index with Pantera Capital signals that institutional benchmark infrastructure in the digital asset space is accelerating and deepening.

For the market, the index's introduction offers a fresh evaluative lens. Measuring public blockchain value through "revenue"—a metric close to traditional equity fundamental analysis—helps channel more traditional capital into crypto markets in a more stable and transparent manner.

Looking ahead, as spot ETFs, multi-asset crypto index funds, and AI-Web3 integrated ecosystems proliferate, public blockchains distinguished by real revenue, network utility, and forward-looking innovation will increasingly become institutional allocation priorities. TRON's inclusion in the S&P-Pantera Capital joint index represents yet another authoritative confirmation from mainstream traditional finance of its fundamental value and long-term prospects. Anchored by steady on-chain revenue, a massive real user base, and innovative positioning for the AI era, TRON is steadily advancing toward the core stage of the global value internet.

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