S&P Dow Jones Indices, a joint venture between S&P Global, the CME Group, and News Corp known as the global leader in providing investable and benchmark indices to the financial markets, announced at the beginning of December that they would be launching a cryptocurrency indexing service sometime in 2021. The service will be customizable and will utilize data provided from the virtual currency company Lukka. The offering is poised to be a cryptocurrency hub, providing more reliable data on pricing, and making it easier for investors to view and research the new asset class. Investors will also be able to create other benchmarking tools to aid in the research. The products are supposed to decrease some of the risks associated with the volatile cryptocurrency market.

According to Peter Roffman, the global head of innovation and strategy at S&P Dow Jones Indices, “With digital assets such as cryptocurrencies becoming a rapidly emerging asset class, the time is right for independent, reliable and user-friendly benchmarks.” The introduction of this new service by one of the most reliable index providers could be the boost that virtual currencies need in order to become more mainstream investments.

Cryptocurrencies have been around for a little longer than a decade. Despite this, many investors and financial institutions have yet to see them as an alternative to traditional investments such as stocks, bonds, or gold. However, billionaire investor and founder of Bridgewater Associates Ray Dalio recently offered a more positive opinion on bitcoin than he has in the past. According to Dalio, Bitcoin, “could serve as a diversifier to gold and other such store hold of wealth assets.” This could also help to boost the confidence that investors have in cryptocurrencies.

Both Ray Dalio’s statement and the news from S&P Dow Jones Indices comes as Bitcoin rose to a record high in comparison to the dollar. Bitcoin has increased around 170% this year as demand from investors who believe crypto is a viable hedge against inflation is beginning to increase. Large financial firms have also begun safeguarding cyrptocurrencies for institutional investors.

While Wall Street already has a number of virtual currency indexes to choose from, it is no surprise that S&P Dow Jones Indices is joining the party as Bitcoin and other crypto’s continue to increase in demand. Roffman refused to state how he felt his company’s offerings would match up against the competition. However, he stated the partners “institutional quality” will result in a “market leading offering.”