Would you please introduce yourself and tell us how you ended up in the blockchain industry?

Gökçe: ‘I’m Gökçe Phillips, CEO and co-founder of Crypto Index Series. Before becoming a CEO, I did my PhD in computer science at the University of York in the UK in 2009. I then worked in companies like Reuters, now part of the London Stock Exchange Group, and others like Maersk and Kuehne-Nagel.

In 2017, one of my close relatives decided to sell his apartment and invest all the money in crypto, which piqued our interest. We didn’t know much about cryptocurrencies, so we decided to research. I helped organize the Valencia Blockchain Hackathon in 2018 and attended the Crypto Valley Conference in Switzerland, the Crypto Compare Summit in London, and organized the first Blockchain Summit in Turkey in 2018. All these activities provided more information about the ecosystem, and I read many white papers to understand blockchain and crypto assets better. That’s how I ended up in the blockchain and crypto fintech industry.’

When was the first moment that the idea of Crypto Index Series came into your mind? why?

Gökçe: ‘When I started investing in crypto, I wanted facts, not rumours. I conducted in-depth research, reading books like “Mastering Ethereum” and “Mastering Bitcoin,” and about 113 white papers. I classified crypto assets based on their characteristics. My partner, Rich Phillips, who also worked at Reuters for over 15 years, suggested creating an index series. Combining our ideas, Crypto Index Series was born. Over time, our focus shifted from being a data and index provider to aiming to be the best portfolio intelligence provider for institutions in digital asset markets.’

How would you explain your project to your grandma?

Gökçe: ‘My grandma was an early teacher and a big advocate of investing in gold. Here’s how I’d explain it to her: When saving money, you don’t want to put it all into one stock or keep it in just one currency. You want to diversify your investments to protect your money’s value and potentially make a profit. In the world of digital assets, financial institutions aim to do the same for their customers. They want to diversify their portfolios and manage risks effectively. Our products help institutions collect customer crypto holdings data from blockchains and exchanges, manage it in one place, and provide advanced analytics to reduce risk and increase profit.’

What are the pain areas that Crypto Index Series products are solving?

Gökçe: ‘The first challenge is the technical complexity of the market. Institutions need data, risk management infrastructure, and an understanding of blockchains and exchanges. Building these in-house can take several years, leading to lost opportunities and customer funds. Institutions often want to offer crypto services but might miss out on up to 10% of their assets under management if they don’t provide these services.

The second challenge is multiple integrations. Institutions might use different providers for pricing data, transaction collection, and portfolio analytics, leading to significant integration time, costs, and complex stakeholder relations. We address this by offering pricing data, transaction collection, and portfolio analytics in one solution.

Risk mitigation is another challenge. Institutions need to manage high net worth and institutional holdings effectively. We provide tools for advanced portfolio management metrics to manage risk and allow institutions to earn additional revenue by offering analytics as an add-on service.

We’ve received feedback from institutions like a European custodian that needs automated reporting of crypto holdings and an OTC market owner needing to show realised and unrealised returns. Our products can handle these needs, allowing institutions to focus on their core services rather than building additional products in-house.’

What makes your project stand out? 

Gökçe: ‘We started as a data provider but pivoted to portfolio analytics due to strong competition and better positioning. Our focus is on providing scalable, AI-driven, end-to-end portfolio intelligence solutions for institutions. While B2C portfolio analytics providers exist, we focus on scalable, institutional solutions that manage hundreds of thousands of wallets.

Our expertise includes crypto data, transactional data, and portfolio data, supported by two PhD holders and a professor enhancing our analytics. Our product can handle performance metrics like Sharpe ratios and volatility for large-scale portfolios, making it scalable and effective for institutions.’

Tell me more about TRAC Alpha.

Gökçe: ‘We’re excited to announce the name of our portfolio analytics product for the first time: TRAC Alpha. The name reflects our goal of achieving superior investment returns for financial institutions. TRAC Alpha was officially launched on April 18. It’s a scalable, end-to-end, AI-driven institutional portfolio intelligence solution available in API form, admin use, and white-label client views.’

What is your message to the institutions looking to offer crypto services to their customer base?

Gökçe: ‘Based on our observations, institutions need custodians, liquidity providers, regulatory compliance, and data. For the data leg, we offer pricing data, transaction collection, and portfolio management solutions. Institutions shouldn’t build in-house solutions unless absolutely necessary, as it can lead to lost opportunities. Instead, they should focus on their core services and use solutions like Crypto Index Series and TRAC Alpha to quickly offer crypto portfolio services.’

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