According to a report by Bloomberg, Goldman Sachs are planning to set up a trading desk dealing for digital currencies. Three unnamed sources provided details to the publication about the proposal. Apparently, the bank is hoping to have the platform up and running by summer 2018 at the latest, with efforts being made to ensure it’s delivered sooner.
One of the confidants spoke of the dangers faced by those wishing to store digital assets in. Apparently, this is one of the largest obstacles the bank will face. Recent cases of security breaches such as the YouBit hacking will no doubt be driving an institution such as Goldman Sachs to ensure that any cryptocurrency-related product they choose to deliver is done so safely and is sufficiently guarded from any external threats.
If the plan the trio speak of comes to fruition, it’s likely that Goldman Sachs will become the first of the big names on Wall Street to make a market in Bitcoin and other digital currencies.
The anonymous tipsters claim that Goldman Sachs is currently in the process of drafting a team to help them create the trading desk. One of the three hinted that this was centred in New York. With such scant details from so few sources, it’s unclear under which branch the cryptocurrency desk will be housed. However, two of those revealing the details to Bloomberg suggested that transactions would be conducted electronically from within the fixed-income, currencies and commodities unit’s systemic trading function. The third stated that the bank’s managing director, Darren Cohen, was still hunting for additional ways to get into the cryptocurrency space. A spokesperson for Goldman Sachs, Michael DuVally reportedly spoke Reuters about the reasons behind deciding to roll out a trading desk:
In response to client interest in digital currencies, we are exploring how best to serve them.
Meanwhile, the face Goldman Sachs has presented to the public has told a somewhat different story to that of Bloomberg’s three anonymous sources. Lloyd Blankfein, the Chief Executive Officer of the bank told Bloomberg Television that Goldman Sachs weren’t interested in any form of Bitcoin strategy. To them the cryptocurrency is still developing, and is far too volatile to deal with. He stated in late November:
“Something that moves up and down 20 percent in a day doesn’t feel like a currency, doesn’t feel like a store of value… If it works out — and it gets more established, and it trades more like a store of value, and it doesn’t move up and down 20 percent, and there is liquidity to it — we’ll get to it.”