As cryptocurrency investments become more accessible, Nasdaq and the CME Group have partnered to rebrand a crypto index. Here’s a look at this announcement.
Nasdaq and CME Group Announce the Rebranding of This Crypto Index
Last Thursday, Nasdaq and CME formalized a new partnership, resulting in the rebranding of the Nasdaq Crypto Index to the Nasdaq CME Crypto Index (NCI).
First launched in 2021, the NCI offers exposure to the market’s leading cryptocurrencies, with Bitcoin (BTC) currently accounting for three-quarters of the index’s weighting:
Composition of the Nasdaq CME Crypto Index
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The symbol XBT for Bitcoin corresponds to the one used in financial markets: X because the asset is not tied to any country, and BT for “Bitcoin.”
Beyond a name change, Giovanni Vicioso, executive director of equities and alternative products at CME Group, highlights the combination of “two industry standards to offer regulated diversification and the building block that the market now demands.”
For his part, Sean Wasserman, Head of Index Product Management at Nasdaq, welcomes an asset class that can become more widely accessible now that regulations are becoming clearer in the United States, while also expressing his enthusiasm for this collaboration with the CME:
This announcement illustrates Nasdaq’s and the CME Group’s commitment to applying their collective experience in markets and indexing to the crypto-asset class. […] Cryptocurrencies are a relatively new and constantly evolving asset class. During this period of growth, it is essential to be able to rely not on one, but on two trusted international organizations, each with solid market experience and a prudent approach to risk management and governance.
To date, the NCI Index is notably used by Hashdex for its HASH ETP, with a market capitalization of $154 billion and available in Europe, as well as for its NCIQ ETF, which has a market capitalization of $637.1 million.
While Sean Wasserman describes a 1–5% allocation to cryptocurrencies in a portfolio as a “tremendous opportunity in terms of adoption,” it will be interesting to see if this index—whose name is now associated with two of the world’s largest exchanges—will expand more broadly in the future, as investing in cryptocurrencies becomes increasingly mainstream with each passing year.
