Volatile prices of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies are very much influenced by informal forum conversations and news covered by the hundreds of websites. In a bid to track the inclinations of traders, which affects the prices of digital coins, Thomson Reuters announced today that it is going to track and analyze over 400 websites, including hundreds of news and social media websites dedicated to cryptocurrencies, to present the market’s mood to traders.
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Thomson Reuters already runs MarketPsych Indices in collaboration with the behavioral economics research firm MarketPsych Data LLC, to which it will now add data feeds gleaned from numerous websites.
Unlike the regulated market for stocks and forex, cryptocurrencies follow completely different market dynamics. The nascent market is very sensitive to speculation, and double-digit movement in either direction is very common.
The huge gains to be made in trading Bitcoin and other popular cryptocurrencies have attracted tons of traders to this market, however, its decentralized nature and lack of regulatory oversight have made it very hard to predict market movement.
Though many analyzing firms provide trading tips on cryptocurrencies, most of them are based on historical trends, speculation, and even the popularity of the coins based on Google searches.
This unregulated market is also susceptible to FUD - in the recent months, the value of Bitcoin went down from its apex value of $20,000, which it achieved in late December, to as low as $6,000, without any major crackdown by the government of any country.
Many popular forums like bitcointalk.org and a few subreddits have become popular places for traders to discuss their trading strategies. If Thomson Reuters can give a picture of the market psychology based on the data from these websites, it might be able to predict the wild market with an accuracy never before achieved.
Austin Burkett, Global Head of Quant and Feeds of Thomson Reuters, said: “News and social media are driving the investment and Risk Management process more than ever with the continuing rise of passive and quant-driven trading.”
