Goldman Sachs to Launch Data Service to Classify Digital Assets

Investment bank and Financial service firm Goldman Sachs has revealed it is set to release a data service to classify hundreds of digital coins and tokens so institutional investors can comprehend the rapidly growing digital asset class.

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Created in collaboration with global index provider MSCI and crypto data firm Coinmetrics, the data service is called Datanomy. The name was derived from the combination of data and taxonomy –  a branch of science focused on naming and classifying the natural world.

Datanomy is created to address the issue of many digital assets not being classified into their respective sectors. As the digital asset ecosystem has been expanding over the years, it could appear overwhelming to grasp if not familiar with the various sectors of the expansion.

Coin Metrics CEO Tim Rice said large asset managers wanted an “adult framework” to understand digital assets better and invariably discuss them.

Rice added,

“We’ve organized it in an intuitive manner that should help asset managers come into this asset class in a much more standardized fashion.This is the next phase of getting the underpinnings of the industry lined up so that everybody can embrace it, and we can figure out what the next directional move in the market is.”

Users can access Datanomy either as a subscription-based data feed or via Marquee – a platform by Goldman Sachs used as a digital storefront for institutional investors.

In addition, Datanomy provides users with analysis and research, as well as benchmarking performance, managing portfolios, or creating investment products depending on the sectors that include decentralized finance, smart contract platforms, metaverse, or value transfer coins.

Anne Marie Darling, head of the client strategy for Goldman’s Marquee platform, noted,

“We’re trying to create a framework for the digital asset ecosystem that our clients can understand because they increasingly need to think about performance tracking and risk management in digital assets.”

Digital assets on Datanomy would be divided into classes, sectors, and sub-sectors based on the usage of the tokens or coins. According to Darling, this will enable asset management firms and money managers at hedge funds to familiarize crypto with how equities can be debatable as industry sectors like finance or technology or themes like growth versus value stocks.

Notably, Datanomy is just one of the products Goldman Sachs has launched in recent times to achieve its expansion goal beyond Bitcoin-focused products in the crypto market. In June, the investment bank launched an Ethereum-linked derivative product to offer institutional investors indirect exposure to the cryptocurrency market.

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BlockFi, Neuberger Berman Partner to Offer Crypto Asset Product Suite, Including ETFs

Crypto lending company BlockFi has partnered with New York-based private investment management firm Neuberger Berman to create a new business entity that would develop and offer a new cryptocurrency management product, including Exchange-Traded Funds.

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BlockFi announced on Monday, October 25, that the new joint business entity called ‘BlockFi nb’ expects to “launch crypto asset management products, including ETFs and other traditional structures,” that would give investors exposure to cryptocurrencies in their brokerage accounts.

BlockFi nb president, Greg Collett, talked about the development and said: “We are witnessing a significant shift in investor sentiment towards digital assets, and we believe that digital assets should be considered in modern portfolios.”

Through the launch of BlockFi nb, clients will have an asset management product suite that offers access to digital assets and services from experts in investment management and cryptocurrency, Collett said.

According to the two companies, the partnership will combine Neuberger Berman’s suite of crypto strategies with BlockFi’s retail and institutional cryptocurrency solutions. In other words, the product suite would include ETFs and other traditional structures. The crypto products will exist alongside BlockFi’s retail and institutional crypto solutions and Neuberger Berman’s actively managed crypto strategies suite.

Collett further stated that “we think this combination will help us to improve on products currently in the market so that we can give investors cost-effective and convenient access to the performance of digital assets from their brokerage accounts.”

BlockFi offers financial services such as interest-earning accounts and USD loans secured with cryptocurrencies for businesses and individuals across the US and worldwide.

Meanwhile, Neuberger Berman is an 82-year-old private investment management firm that manages $437 billion in client assets as of September 30. The company operates a range of fixed income, equity, hedge fund, and private equity strategies on behalf of individual investors, institutions, and advisors worldwide.

Crypto ETFs Demand Rising

The new partnership by BlockFi and Neuberger Berman comes at a time when cryptocurrency ETFs continue to gain popularity.

As reported by Blockchain.News, the first US Bitcoin ETF began trading on Tuesday, October 19, making the most widely traded cryptocurrency available to most investors with a brokerage account.

ProShares launched its Bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund last week, allowing investors to purchase and sell the assets outside of cryptocurrency exchanges.

Last week marked a milestone for cryptocurrency as investors began trading the ProShares Bitcoin futures ETF, exceeding any other ETF launches, and another, the Valkyrie Bitcoin strategy ETF, started trading on Friday on the public stock exchange market.

With ProShares and Valkyrie already trading their Bitcoin futures ETFs, others are expected to follow as the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) considers other applications.

On October 8, BlockFi applied with the SEC to provide the BlockFi strategy ETF, an actively managed fund that would invest in Bitcoin futures contracts.

In August, Neuberger Berman began providing clients exposure to Bitcoin and other crypto-assets through crypto derivatives like Bitcoin futures and Ether futures, as well as investments in Bitcoin trusts and ETFs to gain indirect exposure to Bitcoin.

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Iran’s tax authority wants to legalize crypto exchanges

The Iranian National Tax Administration (INTA) is pushing to establish a legal framework for the taxation of crypto trading platforms operating in the country, according to a new proposal by the country’s tax authority.

Two months after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s call for a legal framework for crypto trading, INTA reportedly detailed the necessity of legalizing digital asset exchanges in a proposal quoted by the local media.

Reminding Iranian regulators that a legal framework is required for levying the tax, INTA said that the government should only allow authorized exchanges to convert currency while keeping track of transactions.

The tax authority urged to keep the legal framework on the broader side of the spectrum to avoid harsh conditions for crypto exchanges that could cause the proliferation of a black market.

Tax on capital gains, fixed base tax and occupational tax are the three tax regimes on crypto trading platforms proposed by the INTA, though the proposal does not specify the mechanisms for taxing crypto businesses.

Decentralized finance also made its way into the proposal, according to the sources. To comply with the Anti-Money Laundering regulations, the proposal wants to establish an upper limit on transactions occurring on decentralized exchanges.

As Cointelegraph reported in early July, the Iranian Parliament Commission on Economy drafted a new bill to restrict the use of cryptocurrencies within the country while providing a clearer legal framework for miners.

Related: Iran pauses electricity exports due to crypto mining and hot summer

Crypto mining is still legal for licensed miners operating in Iran, although it’s temporarily banned till September due to energy concerns during the hot summer months. Miners are recognized as owners of the digital assets they mint.

Converting one cryptocurrency to another is not illegal, either. But the current law only allows banks and licensed exchanges to use digital currencies mined in Iran to pay for imports while crypto can not be used for payment within the country.

Iran law enforcement spent the summer conducting raids on unlicensed crypto miners. Police seized as much as 7,000 mining rigs in several operations. Last month, the government asked the licensed crypto miners to halt production altogether until further notice.