Top 100 crypto index
A "top 100 crypto index" sounds as if it should simply follow the first 100 rows of a market-cap ranking. In practice it cannot, and the reasons say a lot about how crypto markets work. This page explains what a well-built top 100 index includes, what it leaves out, and how it keeps its list stable, using the C100 and its live constituent list as the example.
Why the top 100 on a price site is not an index
Open any crypto price site and sort by market capitalization. Several kinds of row in that list are not independent crypto assets:
- Stablecoins follow a currency such as the US dollar. Some of the largest tokens by market cap are stablecoins; including them would add cash-like positions to a market index.
- Wrapped and bridged tokens represent another coin on a different blockchain. Wrapped Bitcoin is Bitcoin; counting both would count Bitcoin twice.
- Liquid-staking and restaking receipts represent a staked position in another asset, again a second claim on the same coin.
- Tokenized gold, stocks, funds and treasuries follow assets outside crypto.
- Exchange-pegged tokens are issued by an exchange to mirror an asset from another chain.
The list also changes constantly. A token can jump into the top 100 for a few hours on thin trading, and some listed market caps rest on supply figures that cannot be verified.
How the C100 builds its top 100
The C100 turns the raw ranking into an index in four steps, on each selection date.
1. Remove what is not a crypto asset of its own. All of the categories above are excluded, using CoinMarketCap's classification and a published manual list. Governance tokens of staking or stablecoin projects remain eligible, because they are assets in their own right.
2. Take the top 150. What remains is ranked by CoinMarketCap's point-in-time ranking. Using the ranking rather than a raw market cap means an asset whose supply cannot be verified cannot buy its way in with a self-reported number.
3. Apply the investability screens. An asset must have at least 90 days of price history, a 30-day median daily trading volume of at least $5 million, and trading on at least 10 market pairs. These screens remove newly launched tokens and assets that are hard to trade.
4. Select 100 with a buffer. An existing member stays while it ranks in the top 120 eligible assets. A new asset joins only if it ranks in the top 90. Remaining places go to the highest-ranked eligible assets. This keeps assets near the boundary from moving in and out at every review.
The result is a list that changes only at quarterly reconstitutions and only for clear reasons, each of which is recorded. The C100 currently holds 100 constituents.
The current top 20
| # | Asset | Sector | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ethereum ETH | Layer 1 | 14.61% |
| 2 | Bitcoin BTC | Layer 1 | 14.16% |
| 3 | XRP XRP | Payments | 7.27% |
| 4 | BNB BNB | Exchange | 6.95% |
| 5 | Solana SOL | Layer 1 | 5.66% |
| 6 | Zcash ZEC | Privacy | 4.70% |
| 7 | TRON TRX | Layer 1 | 4.52% |
| 8 | Hyperliquid HYPE | Layer 1 | 4.13% |
| 9 | Monero XMR | Privacy | 3.02% |
| 10 | Dogecoin DOGE | Memes | 2.99% |
| 11 | Chainlink LINK | Layer 1 | 2.20% |
| 12 | Cardano ADA | Layer 1 | 1.80% |
| 13 | Bitcoin Cash BCH | Layer 1 | 1.47% |
| 14 | Stellar XLM | Layer 1 | 1.46% |
| 15 | NEAR Protocol NEAR | Layer 1 | 1.35% |
| 16 | Uniswap UNI | DeFi | 1.13% |
| 17 | Litecoin LTC | Layer 1 | 1.08% |
| 18 | Canton CC | Privacy | 1.00% |
| 19 | Avalanche AVAX | Layer 1 | 0.96% |
| 20 | Sui SUI | Layer 1 | 0.94% |
Every constituent has its own page with its weight history since 2020, its contribution to the index and the reason it joined or left. The full list is on the constituents page.
How much each of the 100 matters
Being in a top 100 index does not mean equal influence. The C100 weights by market capitalization with caps: Bitcoin and Ethereum at most 20% each, every other asset at most 10%, and the assets above 4.5% together at most 48%.
On the latest data, the ten largest constituents make up 68% of the index. The other ninety share the rest, so most of them individually have only a small effect on the level. That is the intended shape of a market-cap index: it reflects where the value is, while the caps stop a few assets from being everything.
If you want each of the 100 to count equally, the equal-weight variant does exactly that. Equal weight vs market cap compares the two.
How the 100 spread across sectors
A top 100 index is not only a list of the largest assets; it is also a map of what the crypto market consists of. The C100's constituents fall into sectors such as layer-1 blockchains, decentralized finance, payments, exchange tokens, memes, privacy coins and infrastructure. Their weights shift as different parts of the market grow and shrink.
Because the largest assets are mostly layer-1 blockchains, that sector usually makes up the biggest share of the index. The live sector breakdown is on the home page, and each monthly report shows how much each sector contributed to that month's return and how its weight changed. Sector labels come from each asset's classification and are published on its page.
When the list changes
The C100 reviews membership on the first Monday of January, April, July and October, and resets weights on the first Monday of every other month. The next review is a rebalance on December 7, 2026.
At a reconstitution, a constituent leaves for one of a few reasons: it no longer passes a screen (for example, its median volume fell below $5 million), it has fallen outside the top 120 eligible assets, or more than 100 assets qualified and it was among the lowest ranked. The reason is published with every change in the monthly reports and on each asset's page.
Between reviews, the list changes only in two situations: a token migration, where a project replaces its token and the index converts its units at the published ratio, or an emergency removal after a delisting, loss of peg or exploit. Both are logged in the governance decision log.
Why history matters for a top 100 index
A top 100 list today looks different from the top 100 of a few years ago. Many assets that were large in 2020 or 2021 have since shrunk, been delisted or failed outright. An index history built from today's list would ignore all of them.
The C100's history uses the ranking of each past date, so it includes every asset that qualified at the time, including those that later collapsed. That is why its record before the live launch on November 1, 2026 is a meaningful backtest rather than a list of survivors.
Variants of the top 100
The same rules and data produce a smaller and a differently weighted list:
| Index | Design | Level | Since 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| C100 | Flagship: 100 largest eligible crypto assets, modified market-cap weighted. | 7,761.88 | +676.19% |
| C25 | 25 largest eligible crypto assets, modified market-cap weighted. | 8,155.82 | +715.58% |
| C100 Equal Weight | Same constituents as C100, equally weighted. | 2,238.77 | +123.88% |
| C100 ex-BTC | C100 methodology with Bitcoin excluded. | 6,351.96 | +535.20% |
The C25 applies the same rules to the 25 largest eligible assets. The C100 ex-BTC shows the top 100 without Bitcoin. The C100-EW holds the same assets as the C100 at equal weights.
Frequently asked questions
Is the C100 the same as the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap?
No. It excludes stablecoins, wrapped and bridged tokens, staking receipts, exchange-pegged tokens and tokenized assets, requires liquidity and a price history, and uses a buffer when changing members. Its list is therefore more stable than a live ranking and contains only independent crypto assets.
Why are stablecoins excluded from a top 100 crypto index?
Because they follow a currency rather than the crypto market. Including them would mix cash-like positions into the index and dilute the moves it is meant to track.
How often does the top 100 list change?
Membership changes at quarterly reconstitutions, in January, April, July and October. Token migrations and emergency removals are applied when they happen.
How many assets are in the C100 right now?
The C100 currently holds 100 constituents. In 2020, fewer than 100 assets met the liquidity rules, and the index held fewer members rather than relaxing its rules.
Where can I see why an asset was added or removed?
Each asset's page lists every addition and removal with its reason, and each monthly report lists the changes made at that month's review.
Informational index only. Not investment advice. Not an investable product. This page explains how indexes work and describes the C100's rules and published data; it is not a recommendation. Figures update from the index data; values before the launch date are backtested.