CoinMarketCap acquires little-known data firm as it seeks to improve pricing on site

CoinMarketCap's goal to revamp its cryptocurrency data site took a big step today with the announcement of the firm's first acquisition. 

The site, which has come under fire as of late for including pricing and volume data from "fake" exchanges, announced on Wednesday its acquisition of Hashtag Capital, a startup that previously operated a trading operation, according to crypto news site CoinDesk. 

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As per the report, the acquisition of Hashtag follows CoinMarketCap's move to work with cryptocurrency exchanges to increase transparency around the data they provide CMC. With the addition of Hashtag, CMC will aim to offer users the "true price" of crypto assets that go "beyond our traditional volume-weighted average prices to even more sophisticated price algorithms and analyses," according to a statement by Brandon Chez, CEO of CMC. 

Readers of The Block might recall that CoinMarketCap has long been trying to improve the quality of its data. In April, the firm said it was looking at ways to eliminate fake volumes by examining volumes versus cryptocurrency holdings in cold wallets.

“You can look at the order book data and compare that up against [the amount of cryptocurrency they hold in cold storage] and get a better understanding of what’s actually going on,” said Luke Wagman, chief evangelist at CoinMarketCap. Still, all of this is in the users’ hands. “We don’t want to police the industry,” he said. 

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Frank Chaparro is Host of The Scoop podcast and Director of Special Projects. He also writes a biweekly newsletter. Chaparro started his career at Business Insider, where he specialized in the intersection of digital assets and Wall Street, market structure, and financial technology. Soon after joining Business Insider out of Fordham University, Chaparro was interviewing top finance and tech executives, including billionaire Mark Cuban, “Flash Boys” star Brad Katsuyama, Cboe Global Markets CEO Ed Tilly, and New York Stock Exchange President Tom Farley. In 2018, he become a sought after reporter in the crypto world, interviewing luminaries such as Tyler Winklevoss, the cofounder of Gemini, Jeremy Allaire, the CEO of Circle, and Fundstrat head Tom Lee. For inquiries or tips, email [email protected].