The role of benchmark indices is to describe and measure markets. Delivering transparent rules, documented governance, independent oversight and clear procedures under stress requires rigor and discipline. Index providers apply these disciplines voluntarily, drawing on standards refined over decades in other asset classes.
A new report from the Index Industry Association examines how digital asset indexes are evolving to meet these expectations — and must continue to evolve as stablecoins and tokenized assets enter the picture. Transparency is rarely the loudest part of a market, but it tends to be the part that lasts.
Principled perspectives
One Market, Not Two: CoinDesk’s Dave LaValle on Crypto and TradFi Converging
The conversation about crypto in client portfolios has changed over the past six months, and advisors who still think in the old framework risk being caught flat-footed. In a new interview with The Wealth Advisor, Dave LaValle, president of CoinDesk Data & Indices, explained why.
The clearest signal came from Wall Street. “The Morgan Stanley team launched their bitcoin ETF in early April, and a little more than a month after that, they have over $230 million in assets,” LaValle said. “To raise $230 million in basically a month, that’s kind of crazy.”
He framed crypto as a disruptive technology that needs two things to take hold: the technology itself, which exists, and regulatory clarity. The GENIUS Act set a framework for stablecoins backed by US Treasuries, and the CLARITY Act, which addresses market structure, could reach a vote “sometime in the next month or two.”
