To launch a new project focusing on cryptocurrency research, the University of Cambridge has partnered with top banks and private companies around the globe.
The Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance (CCAF) has launched a research project to gain more insight into the rapidly growing digital asset market, Cointelegraph was informed by the CCAF on Monday.
The Cambridge Digital Assets Programme (or CDAP) is a public-private partnership that includes 16 companies, including public institutions such as the Bank for International Settlements Innovation Hub or the International Monetary Fund. This initiative includes financial giants such as Mastercard and Visa and major exchange-traded funds providers like Invesco.
Other participants include British International Investment, Dubai International Financial Center, Ernst & Young, Fidelity, United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Fidelity, Ernst & Young, Fidelity, Fidelity, Inter-American Development Bank, London Stock Exchange Group, MSCI and The World Bank.
The CDAP’s core mission is to facilitate evidence-based public discussion about the risks and opportunities associated with growing cryptocurrency adoption. The program will focus on three areas: crypto’s environmental consequences, infrastructure, and digital assets. This includes stablecoins and central bank digital currencies.
The announcement states that the program is a continuation of the CCAF’s work in crypto, which includes the development and publication of the CBECI (Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index). The CBECI, a well-respected index, provides information about the distribution of Bitcoin mining hash rates among countries.
Map of Bitcoin mining as of July 2021. Source: CCAF’s CBECI
The Global Cryptoasset Benchmarking Study series is another CCAF-developed crypto research development. It addresses ecosystem trends, informs regulation and policy discussion and other needs.
Bryan Zhang, executive director of CCAF, stated that the Cambridge Digital Assets Programme (which we’re launching today) aims to address the resulting need for more clarity through providing data-driven insight through collaborative research involving both public and private sector stakeholders.
Michel Rauchs, CCAF Digital Assets Lead, stated that the CDAP will give decision-makers the objective analysis as well as empirical evidence they need in order to navigate the digital asset industry.
Related: A global financial regulator needs more data to assess the risks associated with Bitcoin
Cointelegraph reported previously that some regulators around the world are becoming more concerned about the lack of trusted and standardised data in the cryptocurrency sector. The Financial Stability Board warned in February that crypto market does not have consistent, transparent data. This is a serious risk given the rapid adoption of crypto.
