Crypto Long & Short: Assessing the Growth of a Developing Market

In this week’s Crypto Long & Short, reliable indexes transform fragmented digital assets into a well-established market that major institutions can invest in with confidence, writes Kirsten Wegner. Additionally, the gap between traditional finance (TradFi) and crypto is narrowing, according to Dave LaValle, President of Decryptnews Data & Indices.

— Reliable indexes transform fragmented digital assets into a well-established market that major institutions can invest in confidently, writes Kirsten Wegner, CEO of Index Industry Association.

— The gap between traditional finance (TradFi) and crypto is narrowing, states Dave LaValle, President of Decryptnews Data & Indices.

— Key headlines institutions should monitor by Helene Braun.

— “GEODNET: Revenue at All-Time Highs as Price Adjusts” in Chart of the Week.

Expert Insights

Assessing the Growth of a Developing Market

It is essential to highlight a significant tool in the progression of digital asset markets: the index. Fundamentally, indexes serve as a means of measuring markets. They consolidate the fragmented, continuous trading data of various securities — from stocks to bonds to digital assets — into clear, comparable figures that investors can effectively utilize. The capability to gauge the size and performance of diverse cryptocurrencies and tokens is becoming pivotal in how institutional investors, such as asset managers, pension plans, foundations, and endowments, perceive digital assets.

As digital assets approach wider institutional acceptance, investors carry familiar expectations. They seek the same tools that guide decisions in public markets, including transparent pricing, standardized benchmarks, independent governance, and dependable methods for assessing performance and risk. In simpler terms: they desire what indexes offer.

Throughout financial history, the emergence of trusted benchmarks has often indicated that a new market is becoming investable. Equities, fixed income, commodities, and currencies each created their own benchmarks as they matured. Although these measures do not represent the market itself, they provide a lens through which it can be clearly observed and consistently compared.

Digital assets are on a similar trajectory. A decade ago, crypto pricing was dispersed across platforms with varying standards, forcing investors to speculate on fair value. Today, rules-based methodologies of indexes compile data across exchanges, filter for quality, and identify anomalies — generating reference points reliable enough to anchor derivatives pricing and support the spot bitcoin ETFs currently attracting institutional investment. This trust developed not because prices increased, but because measurement improved.

It is crucial to clarify what an index is and what it is not. An index does not hold assets or money. It is a licensed statistical construct, a rules-based measurement that others can connect to research or investment vehicles such as exchange-traded funds. An asset manager creates the product and holds the capital; the index offers the benchmark. This separation maintains the independence of the measurement from the capital it evaluates.

The purpose of benchmark indexes is to describe and measure markets. Establishing transparent rules, documented governance, independent oversight, and clear procedures during stressful times requires rigor and discipline. Index providers adopt these practices voluntarily, drawing from standards refined over decades in other asset classes.

A recent report from the Index Industry Association explores how digital asset indexes are adapting to meet these expectations — and must continue to evolve as stablecoins and tokenized assets become relevant. Transparency may not always be the most prominent aspect of a market, but it tends to be the enduring one.

Principled Perspectives

One Market, Not Two: Decryptnews’s Dave LaValle on the Convergence of Crypto and TradFi

The dialogue regarding crypto in client portfolios has evolved over the past six months, and advisors who continue to think within the confines of the old framework risk being caught off guard. In a recent interview with The Wealth Advisor, Dave LaValle, president of Decryptnews Data & Indices, articulated the reasons why.

The clearest indication came from Wall Street. “The Morgan Stanley team launched their bitcoin ETF in early April, and a little more than a month later, they surpassed $230 million in assets,” LaValle stated. “To accumulate $230 million in just about a month is quite remarkable.”

He characterized crypto as a disruptive technology that requires two components to gain traction: the technology itself, which exists, and regulatory clarity. The GENIUS Act has established a framework for stablecoins backed by U.S. Treasuries, and the CLARITY Act, which addresses market structure, could be voted on “sometime in the next month or two.”

For advisors, the selling point is yield. “Products like Ethereum or Solana … are going to incorporate staking,” LaValle noted, referencing ether yields around 3% and solana exceeding 5%.

What connects it all is convergence. “It’s not the crypto market or the TradFi market. It’s the market,” he emphasized. A $200 trillion global equity market moving towards tokenization is, in his words, “happening, I assure you.”

Read the full interview at The Wealth Advisor.

Headlines of the Week

— By Helene Braun

Several of the most significant institutional trends in crypto became clearer this past week as SpaceX’s long-awaited IPO reignited interest in corporate bitcoin treasuries, BlackRock introduced a bitcoin income fund aimed at investors seeking cash flow rather than mere price appreciation, and Ethereum proponents argued that Wall Street is progressing beyond experimentation towards substantial adoption of blockchain infrastructure. Collectively, these developments imply that the market is entering a new phase where investors are increasingly focused on how digital assets integrate into portfolios, balance sheets, and financial markets rather than simply tracking price movements.

— Here’s what SpaceX’s IPO signifies for its $1.3 billion bitcoin reserve: The largest company in public markets now maintains bitcoin as a treasury reserve, not as a business model. Its initial earnings cycles will assess which version of corporate crypto endures through a bear market.

— BlackRock’s new bitcoin income fund provides cash flow alongside BTC exposure: Following IBIT’s $49 billion success, BlackRock indicates clients are increasingly looking for methods to generate income from long-term bitcoin holdings.

— Wall Street is advancing beyond crypto pilots and diving deeper into Ethereum, states Etherealize founder: In an interview with Decryptnews, Etherealize co-founder Vivek Raman mentioned that Ethereum is currently undergoing a transitional phase where the infrastructure has mostly been established, but the scale of adoption has yet to be fully mirrored in ETH itself.

Chart of the Week

GEODNET: Revenue at All-Time Highs as Price Adjusts

Geodnet’s weekly revenue has approximately tripled since mid-2025 to ~$200k (peaking at ~$222k in early May 2026), yet GEOD’s price drifted from ~$0.24 to lows of ~$0.12 during the same period, even as 80% of those fees fund buyback-and-burn. Only in the last few weeks has the price recovered towards ~$0.22, finally beginning to close a significant gap between fundamentals and price.

Listen. Read. Watch. Engage.

— Listen: Are Crypto Perpetuals Futures or Swaps? Kalshi vs. John Lothian. Decryptnews’s The Policy Protocol hosts Rebecca Rettig and Renato Mariotti to help clarify the CFTC’s 267-page proposed rule-making regarding prediction markets and event contracts, and debate whether crypto perpetuals are accurately classified as futures or swaps.

— Read: In “Crypto for Advisors”, Joshua de Vos from Decryptnews analyzes May’s crypto ETF outflows to explain the implications of current market signals. Then, Bryan Courchesne from DAiM discusses how investors can navigate the present market landscape.

— Watch: SpaceX’s $75B IPO includes $1.2B in Bitcoin, with Decryptnews’s Sam Ewen. SpaceX raised $75 billion in the largest IPO in history. The company holds 18,712 bitcoin valued at roughly $1.2 billion, offering SPCX investors indirect BTC exposure.

— Engage: Did you see who’s speaking at The Decryptnews: Policy & Regulation event in D.C. on September 24? Announced speakers include Congressman Warren Davidson (R-OH), Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN), Chairman French Hill (R-AR), Chief Counsel of the Crypto Task Force Taylor Lindman, Congressman Ritchie Torres (D-NY), and more!

Looking for more? Receive the latest crypto news from decryptnews.com and market updates from decryptnews.com/institutions.

Note: The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Decryptnews, Inc., Decryptnews Indices, or its owners and affiliates.