Thomson Reuters Set to Track Market Sentiment Surrounding Bitcoin

Thomson Reuters, in conjunction with MarketPsych Data, announced the release of a new version of their MarketPsych Indices, TRMI v3.0, which “includes its first sentiment data feed for Bitcoin,” according to a March 12 press release.

The MarketPsych Indices uses “quantitative behavior economics” in order to aid investors with essential market sentiment data. The latest version tracks over “400 news and social media sites, many specific to cryptocurrencies” and provides data metrics on variables such as fear and greed.

“Our customers can use it to generate alpha. They can drive positive investment returns. They can use it to better balance the risk in their portfolios” said Austin Burkett, the global head of Thomson Reuters quant and feeds division, to Coindesk.

Investors Business Daily notes that “at the moment many individuals exchange trading ideas and discuss the latest developments in forums, while specialized news websites report on Bitcoin and the wider cryptocurrency industry. Online activity, such as Google searches for “bitcoin”, have been linked with price movements.”

Reuters and MarketPsych seek to quantify this online data to better present and understand the emerging cryptos market. In the press release, Burkett adds that “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” and tools, such as MarketPsych 3.0, will help individuals better “manage and analyse that data.”

This is not the first time Reuters has been involved in the area of cryptocurrencies. In July of 2017, the company announced the creation of a blockchain startup incubator to support innovation for the emerging technology.