Libra Eyes Institutional Investors with Crypto Tax and Accounting App

Blockchain startup Libra has today unveiled a new tax and accounting application for the institutional market, targeting businesses like crypto funds, market makers and exchanges.

Called Libra Crypto Office, the app is being pitched as a way to both connect to the broader ecosystem of cryptocurrency services and automate the real-time gathering of critical information for compliance purposes.

According to Libra CEO Jake Benson, the product came about after discussions with people working in the tax, compliance, and risk assessment fields. Amongst the issues raised, he said, were concerns over scaling due to increasingly complicated processes.

"Further, we found without the right systems and processes, institutional investors were unwilling to allocate significant investment into the industry," he continued. "With the introduction of Libra Crypto Office, we hope to continue industry efforts to upgrade information accuracy, transparency, and compliance practices."

The company has already brought on two industry services as early clients: market maker XBTO (which participated in Libra's $7.8 million Series A funding round) and cryptocurrency exchange service ShapeShift.

Libra's offering is one of a growing number of blockchain services being pitched at the institutional crowd, including hedge funds, that are entering or are weighing a stake in the market. It also comes as some of the world's major cryptocurrencies (including most notably bitcoin) hit new all-time highs, pushing the collective marketing capitalization of those currencies above $300 billion for the first time this week.

Disclosure: CoinDesk is a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which has an ownership stake in ShapeShift.

Tic-tac-toe image via Shutterstock

This article has been updated for clarity.