Thomson Reuters has expanded its sentiment data tracking service to cover the top 100 cryptocurrencies. You can find details about the TRMI 3.1 crypto sentiment package in our daily rubric, Bitcoin in Brief. Today's edition also features other announcements crypto investors may find interesting. Some useful tools can help them develop dynamic strategies on the volatile markets, while a new bot offers automated crypto trading.     

Thomson Reuters has included market data for the top 100 cryptocurrencies in its sentiment data offerings. The service is provided in cooperation with Marketpsych Data LLC, a leader in quantitative behavioral science. The expansion comes after the introduction of bitcoin sentiment index in March, when Marketpsych 3.0 was revealed, as news.Bitcoin.com reported, and the launch of cryptocurrency real-time rates data feed for six cryptocurrencies in May.

According to the official announcement, the new Marketpsych Indices package uses machine learning and natural language processing to measure emotional and topical items across news and social media sites that may drive market participant behavior in cryptocurrency markets. TRMI 3.1 monitors more than 2,000 global news and 800 social media platforms in real-time.

The providers of the service also note that the historical data dates back to 2009. The collected sentiment data can be incorporated into quantitative and qualitative analysis to support investment decisions, the press release details. Investors and other interested professionals can use it to quickly discern patterns affecting their respective businesses, Thomson Reuters points out.

Suite of Tools for Crypto Investors Released

Waterstreet Research Partners LLC, a Minneapolis-based investment research firm, has announced the launch of Crypto Powerranks, a suite of useful tools for cryptocurrency investors. Its users will be able to research, plan, and develop dynamic investment strategies on the volatile cryptocurrency markets, according to the announcement.

Crypto Powerranks is a membership program that provides access to institution-level analytics and portfolio construction strategies. The service will enable cryptocurrency investors to create their own investment plans. The developers of the suite note that their solution comes in response to the need to use robust research tools in combination with market intelligence when making investment decisions.

The service introduces 32 cryptocurrency indices, including 12 that use quantitative factor models known as smart beta. These proven index strategies have not been applied to the cryptocurrency market before. The platform also provides its members with continually updated tools, indicators, and reports, including index action reports. By applying the tools to the different indices, they will be able to research a single cryptocurrency or the broader market, when deciding which coins to choose for their investment portfolio.

"More and more investors are entering the crypto market and have expressed a clear need for more insight, intelligence, and tools, so they can make better informed decisions," said Jonathan Held, managing partner and cofounder of Waterstreet. In his words, crypto investors are tired of biased and emotional opinions in blogs and video channels. "They want clear, objective insights to help them understand the evolving market and make investment choices with confidence," Held added.

Thomson Reuters to Track Top 100 CryptocurrenciesA new trading bot, designed to automate cryptocurrency purchases and sales, has been launched by Millioncoin. The platform, which offers crypto-related services, promises to counter the high costs and inconvenience of transacting in digital coins. The bot, named AT.systems, provides its users with resources in real time, which help them profit from trading these cryptocurrencies.

According to the developers, price instability, high transaction fees, and uncertainty about the relative value of different digital and fiat currencies represent barriers to buying, trading, and spending cryptocurrencies. Millioncoin is trying to address these issues by automating the respective processes.

The bot offered by the company can automatically trade cryptocurrencies to provide its users with the best possible deal for their assets. Combined with other tools, AT.systems can also enhance crypto shopping. This, according to Millioncoin, will help consumers incorporate cryptos in their everyday lives.

Coinbase is seeking to become a fully licensed broker-dealer through its acquisition of three federally regulated firms. The company is confident that it will get the approvals necessary to start offering fully-regulated crypto securities.

Coinbase as Regulated Broker-Dealer

One of the world's largest cryptocurrency companies, Coinbase, has implemented a plan to list crypto securities, the company announced on Wednesday. President and COO, Asiff Hirji, wrote:

Today, we're announcing that Coinbase is on track to operate a regulated broker-dealer, pending approval by federal authorities. If approved, Coinbase will soon be capable of offering blockchain-based securities, under the oversight of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (Finra).

With a presence in 32 countries, the San Francisco-based cryptocurrency company has traded $150 billion in assets and claims to have over 20 million customers.

Obtaining Licenses

Coinbase Acquires Investment Firms to Offer Regulated Crypto SecuritiesIn the US, crypto tokens exhibiting the characteristics of securities are subject to the SEC oversight.

Hirji explained that becoming a regulated broker-dealer for the company is "made possible by our acquisition of a broker-dealer license (B-D), an alternative trading system license (ATS), and a registered investment advisor (RIA) license," adding:

If approved, these licenses will set Coinbase on a path to offer future services that include crypto securities trading, margin and over-the-counter (OTC) trading, and new market data products.

The company hopes to secure these licenses through the acquisition of three federally-regulated companies: Keystone Capital Corp, Venovate Marketplace Inc, and Digital Wealth LLC. All of them are registered with Finra.

Operating Under Keystone's Licenses

Keystone Capital is a Finra-registered broker-dealer with licenses to operate an alternative trading system (ATS) and as a registered investment adviser.

A regulatory approval is needed for Coinbase to operate under the Keystone licenses, the Wall Street Journal explained, adding that "Coinbase is essentially buying Keystone for its licenses."

According to Hirji, the company "is confident it will get those approvals," after which it would take several months to integrate Keystone's operations into its own, the publication noted, adding:

Buying Keystone also raises the prospect that Coinbase could, down the line, expand into products tied to stocks or other securities.

On the company's blog, the COO wrote, "Ultimately, we can envision a world where we may even work with regulators to tokenize existing types of securities, bringing to this space the benefits of cryptocurrency-based markets — like 24/7 trading, real-time settlement and chain-of-title."

Have you ever found yourself feeling like "social" media is actually the complete opposite? Not only does the content on it often cause depression and anxiety, but there's a plethora of fake news, data leaks, and advertisers clamoring for attention. The EU's GDPR is making things more complicated all around, and people are starting to realize the value of their data.

Social media is in a tight spot. Major platforms are struggling to retain their younger audiences, and advertisers are wasting budgets thanks to Gen-Z's intolerance for ads (82 percent of them skip ads, and more than half use ad blockers).

What was once everyone's favorite pastime has become tarnished, cluttered, noisy, and just a little antisocial. Several blockchain companies are looking to tackle the problem. (In fact, tons of wannabe Facebooks and Instagrams are cropping up like weeds).

The platform that will rise to the top in the blockchain social media race remains to be seen. But whichever one does, it should have the ability to change social media in the following ways:

Fix the Ad Issue

We've heard about this problem a few times, as well as how blockchain can fix the broken advertising space. Any social media platform hoping to emerge victorious in Web 3.0 will need to provide a solution in which users can control how much – or how little – advertising they see.

Advertisers shouldn't have to waste money being switched off by content blockers. And they won't fall victim to advertising fraud that costs the industry billions of dollars every year. Users also won't have to grind their teeth filtering through swathes of content they don't want to see – and they'll get rewarded for watching ads if they want to.

Says Melanie Mohr, CEO and Founder of yeay, "Younger audiences want a hyper-personalized experience but not at the expense of privacy. We created a social space where people can have instant and autonomous relationships with the brands they love, collaboratively create cool content – and get rewarded for doing so. There is no overload of adverts – only authentic user-generated content by teens for teens."

Give Users Their Privacy Back

One of the blockchain's greatest qualities is that it can give people back their privacy and anonymity. Networks like Sapien and Minds allow users to be anonymous if they want to be. They can't be tracked, traced or censored. In countries where censorship is an issue, such as China, Turkey, or North Korea, social networks are often blocked. Decentralized platforms like these ensure that no one can block access to content.

Rewarding Artists for Quality Content

In many cases, content creators see very little compensation for the hard work they put in. Networks like YouTube only pay out when view numbers are huge, and even then, the end content creators see very little. Platforms like Verasity cut out the middlemen and ensure that for every like and view, the creator is rewarded instantly through smart contracts.

Sapien and Minds also ensure that content is rewarded based on its popularity. So instead of just likes and views, people get actual compensation, incentivizing them to create higher-quality content.

Fighting Fake News

Getting users to rate content is one way of weeding out poor quality, but it may not prevent fake news. Other platforms are taking an even more proactive approach using the blockchain's ability to verify data sources and content authenticity. Prover, for example, is built on the Ethereum blockchain to verify content creators and kick fake news to the curb.

Blockchain technology is changing social media for the better and has the potential to free the space from many of its current woes. As Mohr affirms, "Make no mistake that blockchain is going to make an impact and it has so much potential as a force for good. It can help to reverse some of the negative effects of social technology – particularly when it comes to issues around privacy, control and the commercialization of people's data."

Cloud-based supply chain company Tradeshift said it would push blockchain development with cash it received from its latest funding round Wednesday, May 30.

The Series E round, which included Goldman Sachs among its major contributors, was worth $250 mln, bringing the total investment funding to over $400 mln.

Identifying key areas for growth, Tradeshift noted both blockchain and artificial intelligence, which it will pursue via its Frontiers innovation lab which it launched in January this year.

"We have always believed that the future of supply chains is 100 percent digital and that connecting trade is just the first step to a digitally connected economy," Tradeshift CEO and co-founder Christian Lanng said in an accompanying press release, continuing:

"This investment will enable us to continue our rapid growth and consolidate our leadership position. We welcome Goldman Sachs and PSP Investments as our newest investors and look forward to their valuable contributions as we enter our next growth phase."

The move paves the way for further integration of blockchain technology into the trade supply chain industry, something which various major corporations, banks and governments are already examining.

Goldman Sachs' investment choice is also pertinent, coming at a time when the conglomerate is seeking to enhance both its blockchain and cryptocurrency exposure. Earlier this month, an executive appeared to confirm Goldman would soon launch Bitcoin futures and subsequently offer more direct investment options.

Ethereum Classic (ETC) has now successfully implemented a protocol upgrade that will ensure that mining remains viable in future, according to ETC Block Explorer data yesterday, May 29.

The fork, dubbed ECIP-1041, has removed the so-called "Difficulty Bomb" feature from the ETC network at block 5,900,000. The 'bomb' was a component of the original Ethereum (ETH) code that was designed to exponentially increase the difficulty of mining to the point where it would become impractically slow, thereby triggering the need to transition to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus algorithm. This feature has commonly been referred to as the 'Ethereum Ice Age,' because it would essentially 'freeze' block validations.  

Ethereum Classic formed after Ethereum hard-forked from the original blockchain in 2016 over disagreements in how to handle the DAO hack.

The ECIP-1041 protocol upgrade will not result in an AirDrop, nor in the creation of a new token.

For its part, in October 2017 Ethereum acted to postpone the difficulty bomb by over a year, as the Foundation continues to lay the groundwork for the transition to its hybrid PoS system, Casper.

Once Ethereum moves to PoS, ETC's network – which reportedly has no plans to transition to PoS – could potentially hope to inherit a significant part of the mining hashpower dedicated to ETH in its current form.

The PoS-PoW debate continues to divide the crypto community. Just this week, a Brazilian researcher calculated that it could take just $55 mln to hack Ethereum Classic's network to make $1 bln profit, arguing that the network's PoW algorithm was more vulnerable to a 51% attack than previously assumed.

US-based financial corporation American Express is researching how blockchain technology can provide solutions to issues such as fraud and identity protection.

More and more financial services companies are exploring how blockchain technology can make a difference, not only in their existing processes but also in providing improved user experiences for their clientele.

AMEX ON BOARD THE BLOCKCHAIN TRAIN

Mastercard is turning to the crypto-supporting technology as is American Express. According to TechRadar, the latter will make a concerted effort to research how blockchain may not only protect their customers against fraud but also how it can keep their identities safe too.

While at the Oktane18 conference in Las Vegas, the company's VP of technology, Tereasa Kastel, chatted about the future blockchain plans of American Express:

American Express is a very innovative company. They were working on blockchain specifically for financial transactions, but we were starting to explore what would an identity wallet look like, and could blockchain be used to help serve as, both internal, but also external card members and merchants.

In another customer-centric show, the company announced that they would be using Hyperledger blockchain technology to assist their merchants in customizing Membership Rewards programs for customers.

THE KEY TO SOLVING CORE ISSUES

However, the technology will be used for more than just giving back to clients. It will give cardholders a viable solution to safeguarding their identities. Kastel explained:

Being in the financial industry, we have to be somewhat conservative on what legal and regulatory requirements there are. Out on the other hand, what I would say is that what it empowers an individual user to do in terms of controlling their identity, and have that identity be immutable, is something you can't pass by – despite what the regulatory controls might be at this time.

These benefits of blockchain can also be used in the fight against fraud. Because records cannot be changed in the ledger, it allows for tamper-proof transactions. In addition, there is a high level of transparency, essentially leaving fraudsters no place to hide as every record's life cycle can be traced.

This, in addition to identity protection, should be a major drawcard to attract new customers and retain existing ones.

KEEPING UP WITH THE TIMES

Kastel concluded:

When identity is done well, with the latest technologies, it removes the impediments for transacting. If you're in this industry, you have to have a voracious appetite for all things identity. To be able to work in a world where there is constant change, you have to always ensure you can stay ahead of the curve.

This is definitely sound advice for companies and not just those in the financial industry. Blockchain technology could be exactly what a business needs to run more efficiently and securely. In using blockchain, these companies could have the edge over their competitors while giving their clients technologically advanced solutions.

The Irish revenue service has published a manual with guidelines aimed at eliminating the uncertainty surrounding the taxation of crypto transactions. Investors and traders of digital coins, businesses working with cryptocurrency and tax advisors, of course, can now find answers to many but not all of their questions. The notice has been issued at a time when tax authorities across Europe are trying to tap into crypto incomes and profits in the absence of dedicated regulations in most cases.  

Cryptos to Be Treated Under 'Normal' Tax Rules

The "Tax and Duty Manual" issued by authorities in Ireland attempts to clarify matters related to crypto taxation and mostly confirms that the existing regulations apply to the crypto sector. The document provides guidelines on the tax treatment of various transactions involving cryptocurrencies. The Irish Revenue Commissioners, the government agency responsible for customs and taxation, emphasizes that the advisory published this month is to be used as a reference for tax purposes only, as it does not cover regulatory and other aspects.

According to the instructions, direct taxes such as corporation tax, income tax and capital gains tax are applicable but each case should be reviewed separately, according to the individual facts and circumstances. In general, businesses accepting crypto payments for goods or services should keep records of crypto transactions. No special rules have been introduced so far and taxable profits should be calculated according to the current tax legislation.

The profits and losses of a company transacting in cryptocurrency must be reflected in accounts and are taxable under "normal CT rules," the document states. Ireland's Taxes Consolidation Act from 1997 recognizes that some businesses operate and prepare their accounts in a "functional currency" other than euro. The authors of the manual point out, however, that cryptocurrencies cannot be considered functional currencies as defined in Section 402(1) of the TCA. Therefore, accounts for tax purposes cannot be maintained in crypto. Instead, euro or other fiat currency should be used.

Irish tax officials have explained crypto income taxation, as well. "Profits and losses of a non-incorporated business on cryptocurrency transactions must be reflected in their accounts and will be taxable on normal income tax rules," the notice reads. They have also informed taxpayers that gains and losses incurred on cryptocurrencies are chargeable or allowable for capital gains tax if they accrue to an individual, or for corporate tax on chargeable gains for companies.

Bitcoin Is Currency as Far as VAT is Concerned

In the absence of common European guidelines on how to treat cryptocurrencies for tax purposes, many member-states have decided to base their VAT (Value Added Tax) policies on a ruling by the Court of Justice of the EU from 2015. The Luxembourg-based institution has drawn a parallel between "virtual currencies" and fiat money, when they are used for payments. The Republic of Ireland is now joining these countries confirming that bitcoin constitutes a currency for VAT purposes.

In result, cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are regarded as "negotiable instruments" and exempt from VAT in accordance with the Irish VAT Consolidation Act of 2010. The manual notes this applies to companies buying and selling cryptocurrencies and acting as owners of crypto holdings. On the other hand, value added tax is due from suppliers of goods or services sold for cryptocurrencies. The taxable amount, however, should again be calculated in euro and at the time of the supply.

The Irish Revenue Commissioners point out that the value of bitcoin and other cryptos may vary between trading platforms. In the absence of a single exchange rate, a "reasonable effort should be made to use an appropriate valuation for the transaction in question," the manual says, without detailing what "reasonable" and "appropriate" may mean in practice.

Income received from mining operations will generally be outside the scope of the value added tax. Crypto mining is not considered an economic activity for VAT purposes yet. It's worth noting that no instructions have been given on the taxation of incomes, profits and other flows related to initial coin offerings. The document issued by the Irish revenue service does not say anything about digital tokens and token sales.