ARIA Co-Founder Jonathan Solomon Unveils Innovative Crypto Analytics Platform Bridging the Gap Between Traditional Finance and Crypto
In Brief
Jonathan Solomon, Co-Founder and co-CEO of ARIA Algorithmic Ratings & Investment Analysis, discusses the platform’s unique approach to bridging the gap between traditional finance and crypto.
We had a chance to talk with Jonathan Solomon, Co-Founder and co-CEO of ARIA Algorithmic Ratings & Investment Analysis, coming to you from TOKEN2049, one of the premier crypto and blockchain industry events. Jonathan and his team have developed a platform that centralises and simplifies crypto data analytics, addressing the inherent complexity in the industry. Here, we explore Jonathan’s inspiration for creating ARIA, how the platform bridges the gap between traditional finance and crypto, and what makes their approach unique in terms of rating and analysing cryptocurrencies.
What inspired you to create ARIA?
ARIA, at first, is a financial data analytics platform. After I launched a crypto fund a few years ago, I realised how complicated it was to research crypto. First of all, I went into the white papers, and the language there was very technical, as for the guy from traditional finance. Then I went over some on-chain data, some off-chain data, the news, the charts, everything. I ended up with ten subscriptions at ten providers. Then, the idea of ARIA was born because we needed to centralise all this information for investors and to help them understand crypto.
There are two prominent families in crypto: the financials and the tech. Each one doesn’t really understand the other. The tech language is tough to understand for financials. The financial language is tough for tech to understand, so both need each other. One of ARIA’s goals is to reconcile both families.
Can you elaborate on how ARIA simplifies the complexities of the crypto market for both novice and experienced investors?
We decided to put all the tools a crypto investor needs in this platform to make his own decisions, and we don’t give any investment advice. We just provide the investors with all the tools they need to make their decisions.
We have a Cryptopedia, which is an encyclopedia of crypto, where we describe all the cryptocurrencies using words that are very easy to understand. We’re trying to use as little technical language as possible because we consider that for an investment to be legitimate, it needs to be understood by investors.
On the other hand, there is all this financial language, ratios and technical language. Same thing that people who are not coming from traditional finance may not understand. Sharpe ratio, Sortino ratio, annualised volatility, etc. We describe them with very easy-to-understand words and explain to our users how to use and interpret these ratios.
As you are from the traditional finance industry, can you explain how your platform for crypto analytics is different from the traditional ones?
We have adopted all the products for crypto investors. It’s the same because we centralised all the information in one platform. There are some platforms like this in traditional finance, but we really made the platform tailor-made for crypto investors. Inside the platform, there are products that are really crypto-focused. We’re not trying just to copy-paste what has been done in traditional finance.
As the platform has not been launched yet, have you done benchmarking with your competitors?
Of course, we have competitors, but there are two sides to our platform. The first side is the data analytics platform, where we have competitors doing a great job. Some are focused on on-chain data, some are focused on off-chain data, and some are news aggregators. But as far as I can see, we did a great job centralising all of this.
Another important thing is that we have this culture at ARIA where we’re not fighting against our competitors. We’re not trying to be better than your competitors and better than this one and better than this one. Our goal is to create value for our users and not to fight against competitors. So what is important is what the user will want, the feedback we will have, and we will take the direction the users are asking.
We really are working for our users. And on the other hand, there is the other side of the platform, which is the crypto rating agency. And the rating agency, we are actually the only ones in the market using all these metrics to rate the cryptos globally.
How does ARIA’s machine learning model identify and highlight impactful news for users, and what advantages does this provide in terms of staying ahead in the market?
We are using more than 35 metrics to rate all the tokens above the $500 million market cap. These 35 metrics are used to rate five main categories: the tokenomics, the regulatory and security risk, the governance, the adoption, and the performance of each crypto.
How does it work? We are plugged by API to different providers, so we’re using only public information. Then, the data is sent to an algorithm we created using our own methodology. So, it’s a proprietary algorithm and a proprietary methodology. The algorithm processes all this data to take out a rating for each crypto. The ratings are going from AAA to junk. We kept the same standard, the traditional finance.
Do you need any human intervention for the analytics processes?
The entire process is fully automated, so there’s no human intervention in the rating. The only part where there’s a human intervention is in the collection of off-chain data. Here is some information: the SEC recently decided to sue Uniswap. It’s information that came from news that we can’t collect automatically.
So yes, we have a person who’s taking care of collecting the off-chain data. Then, this information is sent the same way to the algorithm and treated the same way by the algorithm.
What do you think will be the overall community reaction to such a platform? Maybe some people would consider it unfair to simplify risk management.
People may think it’s fair or not, but we are trying to differentiate it from traditional finance. There was a scandal in 2008 with Moody’s, S&P, and the traditional rating agencies, where they decided to rate some very risky products, to rate them AAA, and there was a big scandal. We want to avoid this scandal and prove that crypto is different from traditional finance and that we can have a very transparent and reliable rating without human intervention.
On the other hand, once again, we don’t provide any investment advice. The fact that crypto is rated AAA doesn’t mean that you should buy it. And the fact that it’s rated junk doesn’t mean that you should sell it. It just tells you the risk of each crypto. Depending on your risk profile, you may decide to invest in investment-grade cryptos or speculative cryptos.
Do you plan to add new features before or after the launch?
We are launching seven different features and seven different products in a few weeks. We have a news aggregator where we aggregate more than 50 sources of information. We have a portfolio tracker where you will be able to aggregate all your portfolios. So, if you have some tokens at Binance, Kraken, or Coinbase, you will be able to aggregate all these portfolios into one portfolio at ARIA and see all your holdings.
There is a portfolio simulator where you can simulate a portfolio that corresponds to your risk profile. So, you will be able to communicate your risk profile if you’re a more speculative investor or less speculative. Then, it’s going to simulate a portfolio that looks like you and is good for you.
We have a charting tool, of course, for technical analysis. We have the rating tool. Also, I’ve already mentioned our Cryptopedia, so yes, we’re starting with this, and then we are waiting for our users’ feedback to develop other products.
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About The Author
Victoria is a writer on a variety of technology topics including Web3.0, AI and cryptocurrencies. Her extensive experience allows her to write insightful articles for the wider audience.
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Victoria is a writer on a variety of technology topics including Web3.0, AI and cryptocurrencies. Her extensive experience allows her to write insightful articles for the wider audience.
