Headline: What is Coin Metrics and what do they do?
Body: Sometimes, you can run into a company or small group of companies, and they are so dominant within one field, that speaking of them becomes synonymous of speaking of the whole field. Case in point, the tech industry. Over the course of a few years (definitely including the pandemic) there were just a few tech stocks that did tremendously well, even in the turmoil. They began to be termed the FAANG (Facebook, Apple,Amazon, Netflix, Google) and began to serve as some sort of stand-in for all of the tech stocks. That seems also to be happening within cryptocurrency as well. The companies going through well-publicized ICOs are pretty well-marketed, but, there are a lot of companies who offer utilities for those networks, or consulting to the management teams. This is why I did an article on Chainalysis, and just recently heard of another company called Coin Metrics, and it seems to be coming up in many different articles. So, who are they, and what do they do?
So, what do they have to say for themselves?
Not much, really. The company was founded in 2017 and seems to focus upon developing products that will allow their clients to take advantage of the blockchain, and retain part of their privacy. The corporate website is pretty bland with boilerplate all over it. Apparently, their values are Open, Pioneering, Elucidating and Neutral. This really doesn’t tell us much, these management-speak type things can be profitably knitted on a pillow, not a whole lot of other value.
More profitably, I think we need to consider the management team and the products they offer.
Management Team
| Name | Position |
| Nic Carter | Co-founder, Board Chief |
| Tim Rice | Co-founder/CEO |
| Chris Overton | CTO |
| Katie Chase | COO |
| Shmuel Bulka | General Counsel |
| Matt Hagel | CFO |
The Products
One of their more interesting products is called ATLAS. This product is billed as the search engine of the blockchain. CM Network Data Pro is a piece of software that allows users to look at a variety of metrics on a variety of cryptocurrencies (Thus, you can see patterns evolving in volume, and take educated guesses where value is going.) High Performant Cryptoasset Market Data allows the user to see patterns in historical pricing patterns of different cryptocurrencies. All are highly useful information sources to traders of cryptocurrencies.
And, now, the rest, of the story…
According to the CEO, there are many large banks who wish to take advantage of the blockchain but are hesitant because the regulations are not yet clear. He goes further to note that with a blockchain, if there is a large shock of a major intermediary going bankrupt, the cleanup would be much faster, and more efficient. The products they are developing could help guide proposed regulation. Since the beginning of the company, they have added many new people, and 2 of the newer hires seem to indicate that Coin metrics is thinking of expanding their offerings of Software as a Service(SaaS.) And, it would appear that they are aiming at European countries, as they just won an award at Hedgeweek’s 2022 European Digital Asset Awards.
On June 7, 2019, Coin Metrics announced that they had acquired digital asset index firm Bletchley Indexes. This acquisition is part of a move by the cryptocurrency analytics company to launch its own smart beta index. This is interesting because Coin metrics seem to be interested in offering something like ETFs within the cryptocurrency space, in form of passive portfolios. They also seem keen to have a few actively-managed portfolios.
The Verdict
This is an interesting company when you look at the sequence of what they invested in. They started with a very focused technical product and morphed into a more definitely financial firm. Is this the lifecycle of many cryptocurrency consultancies and firms? No doubt, it will be interesting to watch.
REFERENCES
https://decrypt.co/111839/coin-metrics-ceo-big-banks-want-in-on-crypto-when-its-more-regulated
https://cointelegraph.com/news/who-cares-about-privacy-not-crypto-users-says-coin-metrics
https://coingeek.com/coin-metrics-acquires-digital-asset-firm-bletchley-indexes/
Editor’s Note: Please note that the information contained herein is meant only for general education: This should not be construed as Tax Advice. Personal attributes could make a material difference in the advice given, so, before taking action, please consult your tax advisor or CPA.