Goldman Sachs multinational investment bank could soon offer Bitcoin and other digital assets investment vehicles, CNBC reported on Wednesday.
In the second quarter, digital assets are offered to clients, Mary Rich, global head of digital assets for the private wealth management department of Goldman Sach, said in a CNBC-related memo.
″We are working closely with teams across the firm to explore ways to offer thoughtful and appropriate access to the ecosystem for private wealth clients, and that is something we expect to offer in the near-term,” she said in a recent interview.
Goldman plans to provide a “full spectrum,” through the use of Bitcoin, derivatives, or traditional investment vehicles, to invest in digital assets, including bitcoin, “Rich added as quoted by CNBC.
The observations reveal that the new asset class will soon be offered to clients by Goldman and the rival investment bank, Morgan Stanley, which says they can launch plans in April, CNBC said.
The news comes in the context of increasing cryptocurrency speculation, with numerous US banks and Washington advising that the blockchain-based currency was too speculizing and volatile for investment.
“There’s a contingent of clients who are looking to this asset as a hedge against inflation, and the macro backdrop over the past year has certainly played into that. There are also a large contingent of clients who feel like we’re sitting at the dawn of a new Internet in some ways and are looking for ways to participate in this space,” Rich added.
The funds would be intended for individuals and groups with at least $25 million to invest in the assets, and Goldman would be able to potentially offer investment funds and other instruments “more in line with the underlying asset class that trades worldwide 24-7.”
“We’re still in the very nascent stages of this ecosystem; no one knows exactly how it will evolve or what shape it will be,” Rich said. “But I think it’s fairly safe to expect it will be part of our future,” she concluded. In recent months Bitcoin has gained value, a coin worth $58,076 dollars.
In the beginning of March, Reuters reported that Goldman Sachs had restarted the cryptocurrencies trading desk, including Bitcoin future and non-deliverable forward trading, citing families.
