Goldman Sachs going for Bitcoin trade despite 'heightened risk'

When it comes to the global investment banking, you can't find many names bigger than Goldman Sachs. Now they are ready to go for the Bitcoin challenge and the whole crypto futures market. Just read on.

Volatility is a word that's been used to describe both Goldman Sachs and Bitcoin. And now they are joining forces. In George Zarya's words, “Crypto as an asset class is becoming too big to ignore.”

Goldman Sachs is approaching this very cautiously. It's new ground for them, and while they want a piece of the action they're not ready to take too many risks on their customer's behalf.
They're not looking to become a full-fledged cryptocurrency exchange (yet, we'll see how it goes, it could happen soon), but they want to be in it. According to the New York Times, the bank wants to,

“create its own, more flexible version of a future, known as a non-deliverable forward, which it will offer to clients”

The bank remains kind of silent so far about Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. But Rana Yared, one of the Goldman's executives involved in creating the future exchange for Bitcoin was caught saying,

“I would not describe myself as a true believer who wakes up thinking Bitcoin will take over the world. For almost every person involved, there has been personal skepticism brought to the table.”

Not a vote of confidence for sure. But they are still going for it.

This should not come as a big surprise for anybody, especially if you've been following the cryptocurrency market over the last year and a half. If you've paid attention, you know it's working

Big banks tend to be conservative and take their time to adopt new technology. So it's taken a bit of time for the big players in the financial world to understand the kind of potential hidden in cryptocurrencies.

But they are getting it. "Despite some initial posturing, the reality is most big banks have already invested significant amounts in research and development into blockchain technology, and cryptocurrencies themselves."

<Yes, they are being slow. But sooner or later they will understand that the blockchain is here to stay and they will act accordingly.

Goldman Sach's decision to go for the Bitcoin market matters a great deal. It is an endorsement. It means that the financial technology represented by the blockchain cannot be doubted anymore.

It's legitimate, it has actual value. It's not worthless, nor a scam, nor a Ponzi scheme. It matters and now one of the world's premium financial institutions is behind it. Now the world knows for sure that Bitcoin (and other crypto coins) are not a fraud and they have enough worth for people to use them and trust them.

Ms. Yared added that her clients are asking for cryptocurrencies in just the same way as they ask for gold. "I want to hold Bitcoin or Bitcoin futures because I think it is an alternate store of value" in her own words. Her clients could be perfectly right.

Yes, there is volatility and fear around Bitcoin and other crypto coins. Ms. Yared answer? "It's not a new risk we don't understand. It is just a heightened risk that we need to be extra aware of"

In a nutshell: go for it.