Goldman Sachs, an American multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in New York, was previously believed to be setting up a cryptocurrency trading desk, according to a report from Bloomberg.
However, during a hearing on April 10 entitled “Holding Megabanks Accountable: A Review of Global Systemically Important Banks 10 years after the Financial Crisis,” Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon categorically refuted that the bank had any plans to open a crypto trading desk.
Goldman Sachs Sets the Record Straight
During the recent hearing, Solomon set the record straight by stating that reports indicating that the bank was opening a crypto trading desk were “fake news.” However, he did state that the bank engaged with clients involved in clearing physically settled crypto futures, and that the bank is watching the crypto industry closely.
“The first [Bloomberg article] wasn’t correct. Like others, we are watching and… doing work to try to understand the cryptocurrency market as it develops… but we never had plans to open a cryptocurrency trading desk.”
Adding to this, Solomon said that opening a crypto trading desk may be a viable move in the future once the industry becomes more established with regulations and the technology itself.
“We might [open a crypto trading desk] at some point in time, but there’s no question, when you’re dealing with cryptocurrency, it’s a new area… it is unclear from a regulatory perspective, it’s unclear whether… in the long run, as a currency, those technologies are going to work and be viable.”
Will big banks like Goldman Sachs open up to cryptocurrency related products in 2019 or will it take longer for them? Let us know what you think in the comment section below.
