New on CME: CFB's Basket Indices, the Bessent Put, and Our Jackson Hole Preview

In this week's CF Benchmarks live X Space, recorded August 20, 2026, Head of Research Gabe Selby is joined by Research Analyst Mark Pilipczuk and Kraken Chief Economist Thomas Perfumo, with CF Benchmarks CEO Sui Chung joining as a special guest for a landmark product announcement.

The panel unveils two new benchmarks, the CME CF Crypto Market Index (CMI) and the CME CF Emerging Crypto Index (ECI), set to launch on August 31, before turning to a frenetic twenty-four hours in markets: a US Treasury long end buyback increase that failed to hold yields down for even one session, a sharp Bitcoin breakout past key resistance, and a first look at the July FOMC minutes ahead of next week's Jackson Hole symposium, where Kevin Warsh takes the podium.

Chapters: 00:00 – Intro & Team Welcome

01:33 – Breaking: CME and CF Benchmarks Announce Two New Crypto Indices

03:15 – Why Build Both a Market Index and an Emerging Leaders Index?

08:47 – Inside CMI's Universe: From 1,000 Tokens to the Top 12

14:57 – Product Market Fit: The Rule That Sets CMI Apart

20:19 – Unveiling ECI: Crypto's Satellite Sleeve

26:29 – ECI by the Numbers: Fees, TVL, Users & the DeFi Leaders Behind Them

28:32 – Why Launch Now? Regulatory Clarity Meets Market Timing

31:27 – Treasury's $4 Billion Buyback Bet Meets the Bessent Put

35:47 – Deficits, Duration & Why Crypto Is Outperforming Big Tech