Yet another major player in the world of traditional investment has embraced cryptocurrency.
S&P Dow Jones Indices, a division of financial data provider S&P Global Inc, announced on Thursday that it will launch crypto indices in 2021, making it the latest major finance company to enter the increasingly mainstream asset class, Reuters reports.
The S&P DJI-branded products will use data from New York-based virtual currency company Lukka on more than 550 of the top traded coins, the companies said.
S&P’s clients will be able to work with the index provider to create customized indices and other benchmarking tools on cryptocurrencies, S&P and Lukka said in a joint statement.
S&P and Lukka said they are are optimistic that more reliable pricing data will streamline investor access to the new asset class, and reduce some of the risks of the very volatile and speculative market.
“With digital assets such as cryptocurrencies becoming a rapidly emerging asset class, the time is right for independent, reliable and user-friendly benchmarks,” said Peter Roffman, global head of innovation and strategy at S&P Dow Jones Indices.
On hearing the news, crypto YouTuber Lark Davis commented: “This market just keeps getting more and more bullish! #bitcoin“
Fellow YouTuber DavinciJ15 also said he believed the launch of the crypto indexes next year will be significant for the market.
He tweeted: “When this launches it may mark the top of bitcoin…”