Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) are the future of many companies

Big banks and wealthy hedge funds have long dominated investment research. But this is changing. The implementation of Markets in Financial Instrument Directive (MiFID II) in the European Union in 2018 will lead to independent research firms grabbing greater market share.

This is good news for the crypto world. After all, investors must deal with all sorts of concerns, from high volatility to limited transparency among ICOs. The lack of investment research in the industry makes overcoming these issues difficult.

The rise of independent research firms presents a great opportunity for the cryptocurrency sector. As expert financial analysts move to independent firms or work for themselves, many will enter the most exciting new asset class: cryptocurrencies. This will finally give industry traders access to professional investment research.

Moreover, given the potential of the blockchain, it’s possible to build a decentralized investment research firm — one that identifies and sources the best research talent from the growing crypto community.

Building a Decentralized Investment Research Ecosystem

In the words of Dhiren Harchandani, CTO of XResearch:

“Decentralization is the natural answer to decades of crippling centralization, which has plagued all sectors including finance. XResearch is the natural result of this observation, and we hope that the crypto community at large recognizes and appreciates what we are trying to do to legitimize the industry and make it a better, safer space for all investors.”

The XResearch ecosystem will be launched in four iterations, or tiers of service. Here’s what that looks like:

Let’s dig deeper into each level so you can see how investors and traders can make better, more timely investment decisions on XResearch’s decentralized platform.

Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

The minimum viable product is a website where users get free access to a variety of data services, such as:

Leading news stories and selected editorials

Market quotes and heat maps

Links to social media

Those who use XResearch’s MVP will enjoy the latest data and helpful information. The goal for XResearch is to generate traffic to the site. As visitors explore the site and realize the value of what we offer, they can learn about our paid services as well as how they can contribute to the research ecosystem themselves.

In this sense, the MVP serves as the gateway to our investment research platform. Additionally, through the MVP, XResearch plans to garner revenue through advertising, banner ads, and traffic placement fees for events.

Level 1

Users will have to pay a nominal annual charge to be an XResearch Tier 1 member, which is paid in XRES or fiat. Some member privileges include:

In-depth professional research delivered through encrypted messaging

Real-time crypto market research feeds

Interactive charting tools

ICO algorithmic ratings

Being a Tier 1 member can help traders eliminate some of the guesswork in crypto investing, and make more objective decisions. This is crucial, since many current investors are too influenced by market hysteria (no more FOMO and FUD).

Level 1 is also where the decentralized aspect of XResearch’s investment research economy comes into play. Level 1 members can apply to be a validating node in our network (read more here), which is built on the Ethereum blockchain.

Any validating node running our distributed application will be rewarded with XRES tokens for verifying transactions and contributing to the ecosystem by curating content from their machines.

Through our Level 1 membership tier, subscriptions and targeted ads will deliver revenue. The opportunity to click through to higher level services is also available for members.

Level 2

As with Level 1, Level 2 members pay an annual membership fee in XRES or fiat. There’s a 10% discount for subscribers who use XRES to pay this fee.

Noteworthy advantages of being a Level 2 member include:

Use of correlation charting tools and price alerts

Access to proprietary XRES research from the core team and independent research

The ability to link activity across exchanges, meaning you can automatically keep an immutable record of your trades

The ability to not only access our publication portal and score independent research, but also contribute your own content and be an independent investment researcher

What’s most notable about Level 2 is the opportunity for subscribers to become reputable investment researchers on the XResearch network. They’ll be given the platform and the tools to create and publish their own content. Our decentralized blockchain network will rank their contributions by accuracy score and automated member voting.

The decentralized contributor portal benefits everyone on the platform because it ensures the most reliable research makes its way front and center. This will empower all traders to make timely, accurate investment decisions about coins, ICOs, and blockchain startups.

Note that contributors must apply to become verified contributors. Only once they are verified can they charge a subscription fee for other members to view their content (similar to how the core XResearch team will monetize its research).

XResearch’s revenue model for Level 2 functions the same as Level 1. They’ll be links to upgrade to Level 3.

Level 3

Designed for institutional, B2B clients and serious professionals investors, Level 3 gives subscribers what they need to succeed, including:

Bespoke, personalized research

Consultancy services from the core XResearch team

Access to advanced training and portfolio management tools

Since Level 3 services are highly customized to meet the complex, unique needs of serious investors, subscribers pay per item/service they use. Again, this payment is made in XRES, other approved cryptocurrencies, or fiat — with a 10% discount for payment in XRES.

Since the revenue model for Level 3 comes from clients paying for what they use, XResearch will more narrowly target members with ads.

Giving cryptocurrency and ICO investors control of the future

From proprietary investment research from our experienced team to the opportunity to contribute your own content, our entire decentralized ecosystem is designed to optimize decision-making for investors and empower independent researchers who believe in their own ideas to make a name for themselves (and get paid for their work).

What XResearch is doing is unprecedented in the investment research marketplace, and also happens to be a great use case for blockchain technology. By leveraging our in-house talent and tools with the power of the blockchain and crowdsourced content, we can build a platform with the most reliable advice and data for cryptocurrency and ICO investments.

Our goal is simple and clear: By decentralizing investment research, we hope to create the most reliable and accountable investment research marketplace.

Find out more at www.xres.io and join the discussion in our Telegram group.