A benchmark is a published reference figure that other things are measured against or settled on. In crypto it is usually one of two things. The first is a reference rate: a single daily price for an asset such as bitcoin, used to settle futures and value funds. The second is an index: a weighted basket of assets, used to judge whether a portfolio did better or worse than the market. The best-known crypto examples are the CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate (BRR), the Nasdaq CME Crypto Index (NCI) and the S&P Digital Market Indices.
The formal definition
EU law has the most precise wording, in the Benchmarks Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/1011). An "index" is any figure that is published or made available to the public and is regularly determined by a formula, another calculation method or an assessment. It must be based on the value of underlying assets, prices, rates, quotes or surveys.
An index becomes a "benchmark" when it is used for one of these purposes:
- to determine the amount payable under a financial instrument or contract
- to determine the value of a financial instrument
- to measure an investment fund's performance, whether to track its return, set its asset allocation or compute performance fees
What counts is how a figure is used, not what it measures. A price shown on a website is just a price. Once a futures contract settles on it, it is a benchmark.
Why benchmark rules exist
Benchmark rules grew out of interest-rate manipulation cases involving LIBOR and EURIBOR. On 17 July 2013 the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) published 19 Principles for Financial Benchmarks. They cover four areas:
- governance and conflicts of interest
- the quality of the benchmark
- the quality of the methodology
- accountability, including complaints, audits and audit trails
The G20 endorsed the principles in September 2013. The EU Benchmarks Regulation followed: it was published on 29 June 2016 and has applied since 1 January 2018. The UK kept a version of it after Brexit, known as UK BMR.
Which crypto benchmark measures what?
Compare five crypto benchmarks by what they cover, when they fix and what they are used for before you hold a fund or price up against one.
| Benchmark | Type | What it covers | When it fixes or changes | Launched | Main use stated | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BRR | Reference rate | One daily bitcoin price: average of 12 five-minute volume-weighted medians | Trades 15:00 to 16:00 London time | 14 November 2016 | Settles bitcoin futures; sets NAV for several bitcoin ETPs | |
| BRRNY | Reference rate | One daily bitcoin price, same method as the BRR | Trades 15:00 to 16:00 New York time, published 16:00 | Not stated | 7 of 13 proposed spot bitcoin ETFs planned to set NAV to it (December 2023 paper) | |
| NCI | Index (basket) | Free-float market-cap weighted basket; bitcoin 76.96% on 31 March 2026 | Rebalanced and reconstituted every quarter | February 2021; reintroduced 8 January 2026 | Benchmark for institutional digital-asset investment; index futures announced 9 June 2026 | |
| S&P Digital Market Indices | Index series | Bitcoin, ether, or bitcoin and ether together (three indices at launch) | Not stated | 4 May 2021 | Measures the performance of bitcoin, ether or both | |
| NYXBT | Index (single asset) | US dollar value of one bitcoin | Once a day at 4 p.m. London time | May 2015 (base date 18 May 2015) | One of the oldest crypto benchmarks |
This table summarises the article's dated facts only: it does not show current weights or constituents, live values, or whether any benchmark suits your portfolio.
Reference rates: the CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate
The BRR is administered by CF Benchmarks. The firm says it has calculated the rate every day since 14 November 2016, and that the BRR is a registered benchmark under UK BMR. CF Benchmarks is authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority.
How the BRR is calculated
CF Benchmarks and CME describe the calculation in four steps:
- Trades are collected from constituent exchanges between 15:00 and 16:00 London time. Each exchange must meet published eligibility criteria.
- The hour is split into 12 five-minute partitions.
- A volume-weighted median price is calculated for each partition.
- The BRR is the equally weighted average of the 12 medians.
The design limits manipulation. A median means trades at outlying prices have little effect on a partition. Weighting the partitions equally means one large trade, or a cluster of trades, in a single five-minute slot has only a limited effect on the final rate.
What the BRR is used for
CF Benchmarks says the BRR is the settlement index for bitcoin futures listed by CME Group. It also sets net asset values (NAV) for several bitcoin exchange-traded products (ETPs).
A New York variant, BRRNY, uses the same method. It collects trades from 15:00 to 16:00 New York time and publishes at 16:00 New York time. There is also an Asia-Pacific variant, BRRAP.
On 10 January 2024 the US Securities and Exchange Commission approved the listing and trading of a number of spot bitcoin ETP shares. In a paper dated 6 December 2023, CF Benchmarks wrote that 7 of the 13 proposed spot bitcoin ETFs planned to set their NAV to the BRRNY.
Indices: measuring a basket
Nasdaq CME Crypto Index (NCI)
Nasdaq launched the Nasdaq Crypto Index in February 2021 as a benchmark for institutional investment in digital assets. Its main rules:
- Weighting: constituents are weighted by free-float market capitalisation.
- Rebalancing: the index is rebalanced and reconstituted every quarter.
- Eligibility: an asset must trade on at least two "Core Exchanges" and be supported by at least one "Core Custodian". These thresholds were lowered in Q1 2022 from three exchanges and two custodians.
On 8 January 2026 Nasdaq and CME Group reintroduced the index as the Nasdaq CME Crypto Index. The abbreviation is still NCI, and CF Benchmarks now calculates it.
The index is heavily concentrated in bitcoin. On 31 December 2025 Nasdaq's fact sheet showed these weights:
| Asset | Weight |
|---|---|
| Bitcoin | 75.41% |
| Ether | 13.88% |
| XRP | 6.02% |
| Solana | 3.33% |
| Cardano | 0.68% |
| Chainlink | 0.39% |
| Stellar | 0.29% |
A later Nasdaq snapshot, dated 31 March 2026, showed bitcoin at 76.96% and ether at 12.68%. Weights change at every quarterly reconstitution.
On 14 May 2026 CME Group announced futures on the index. The contracts settle in cash to the Nasdaq CME Crypto Settlement Price Index. The standard contract is 10 times the index and the micro contract is 1 times the index. On 9 June 2026 CME Group announced that the futures had launched.
S&P Digital Market Indices
S&P Dow Jones Indices launched this series on 4 May 2021. The series started with three indices:
- S&P Bitcoin Index: measures bitcoin's performance.
- S&P Ethereum Index: measures ether's performance.
- S&P Cryptocurrency MegaCap Index: measures bitcoin and ether together.
Lukka supplied the pricing data used to choose eligible constituents and price them.
NYSE Bitcoin Index (NYXBT)
The New York Stock Exchange launched NYXBT in May 2015. Its methodology lists 18 May 2015 as the base date, and NYSE described it as the first exchange-calculated and disseminated bitcoin index. It reported the US dollar value of one bitcoin, fixed once a day at 4 p.m. London time. That makes it one of the oldest crypto benchmarks.
How to read a crypto benchmark
Before comparing a fund or a price with a benchmark, check six things in its methodology document:
- What it measures. A single-asset reference rate and a multi-asset index answer different questions. A portfolio of small tokens compared with a bitcoin-heavy index will mostly show how bitcoin did.
- Weighting. Market-cap weighting lets the largest assets dominate. As the NCI table shows, bitcoin is about three-quarters of that index.
- Price sources. Find out which trading venues feed the price and what criteria they must meet. A benchmark built on few or thin markets is easier to distort.
- Timing. The BRR fixes at 16:00 London time and the BRRNY at 16:00 New York time. A fund priced on one fixing can differ from a chart showing another on the same day.
- Rebalancing. Quarterly reconstitution means an index's holdings can change after a rally or a crash.
- Who runs it and under what rules. A regulated administrator must publish a methodology and follow governance and audit rules. That does not make the benchmark immune to errors.
A benchmark is only a yardstick. It shows how a defined market segment performed, not whether any asset is a good buy.
