Incorporating Digital Assets: Institutions to Mandate Data Management Tools

Digital asset adoption by institutions is on the rise, with over 900 US-based institutions holding spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) shares worth more than $100 million each, totaling $10.7 billion. Leading asset management firms such as BlackRock and Franklin Templeton have also launched tokenized treasury funds, with over $1 billion in treasury notes tokenized on public blockchain networks. However, institutions face challenges in managing the dense and complex data associated with digital assets. To address this issue, Amberdata has launched an open-source institutional-grade security master database called “ARC” that provides transparency and consistency in the digital asset sector. ARC unifies front, middle, and back offices by collecting data on traded crypto pairs and offers a tagging classification system to categorize assets and their use cases. Additionally, institutions require data management tools to evaluate the risks associated with digital assets. Chainalysis provides on-chain data to help institutions understand the distribution, liquidity, and potential illicit or risky nature of assets. While the implementation of data management tools in institutions may face challenges, Amberdata expects ARC to be widely used as it addresses a major pain point in mapping assets across exchanges and markets. The open-source nature of ARC allows for community contributions and insights to keep the dataset relevant and up to date. However, institutions may need to balance transparency with privacy laws and confidentiality when building products on blockchain infrastructure.