By Hannah Lang
(Reuters) – Blythe Masters, the former chief executive of blockchain startup Digital Asset, is teaming up with global investment advisory firm Wilshire Associates on a new venture that aims to make it easier for traditional institutions to invest in digital assets.
Masters will lead Wilshire Associates’ new Digital Assets Advisory Group to develop industry standards that should allow investors to compare the characteristics of thousands of digital assets, including cryptocurrencies, the company said on Tuesday.
“There is a tremendous amount of interest and confusion from investors related to this space,” said Masters, who is also a partner at private equity firm Motive Partners and a one-time JPMorgan Chase & Co executive.
Wilshire Associates provides indexes and other analytics to help investors navigate traditional assets, like stocks and bonds. Its chief executive, Mark Makepeace, said clients were asking for uniform industry standards for digital assets, particularly venture capital investors looking to get into the space.
Wilshire has teamed up with U.S.-based Digital Asset Research (DAR), a specialist provider of crypto data and research, to develop its classification system which will focus on certain themes, including the structure, utility and purpose of a digital asset.
“We’re…bringing together a group of industry leaders and experts to help us create standards and provide the market with much better insight and tools so that investors can be better educated,” said Makepeace.
(Reporting by Hannah Lang in Washington; editing by Michelle Price)
