Goldman Sachs Enlisting Clients For Crypto-Related Product

One of the most respected and biggest investment firms in Wall Street, Goldman Sachs has been reportedly enlisting a limited number of its clients to a yet-to-launch cryptocurrency related product.

This was revealed by a source who asked not to be identified, as information about the product has not yet been released yet.

According to the source the firm has onboarded a small number of clients to actively trade the derivative, a non-deliverable forward, which is cash-settled product that is comparable to a futures contract but does not trade on an exchange.

It must be noted that this trading will be a Bitcoin trading product contrary to earlier reports that Goldman Sachs was actively exploring the creation of a non-deliverable forward for Ether, which would have been a major stamp of approval for Ethereum, as it is still seeking to achieve the level of Wall Street Exposure that Bitcoin has begun to see over the past 12 months.

The source also stated that the company is not interested in creating an ether derivative.

The said Bitcoin trading product will be similar to that being issued by CME and CBOE which are both cash-settled Bitcoin futures contracts.

Intercontinental Exchange-backed, Bakkt is also launching its first bitcoin futures product which is different from those offered by CME, CBOE and Goldman Sachs as it will include a physical delivery of actual Bitcoins when the contract is settled.

Bitcoin Will Not Destroy Our Climate

A study that has been released by researchers from the University of Hawaii at Manoa has concluded that Bitcoin mining could be responsible for the greenhouse gas emission sufficient to propel climate change past 2 Celsius or 3.6 Fahrenheit within the next 11 to 22 years.

The study postulates that this stems from the fact that most Bitcoin mining operations occurs in China and other parts of Asia which mostly depends on coal.

It also further explains that increase utilization of the cryptocurrency may lead to skyrocket emissions.

However, other experts cast doubt on its findings due to the number of questionable assumptions the study undertook.

One of these assumption is the type of fuel used to generate electricity will remain the same ignoring the rapid rise of renewable alternatives that are readily available and gaining popularity.

The study also ignores the fact that the likelihood of mining companies shifting to countries that are more carbon-sensitive such as Iceland or the U.S. According to Eric Masanet, a specialist in energy modeling at Northwestern University, the new study is fundamentally flawed as it failed to account that the global electric power sector is decarbonizing and mining rigs are becoming more efficient.

Similarly, Lawrence Berkely National Lab research scientist Arman Shehabi that the study keeps certain factors the same while assuming growth in the use of Bitcoin.

The amount of energy usage of Bitcoin to secure transaction on its network is admittedly a growing concern due to the massive amounts of energy it requires assuming the its usage would lead to such a disastrous result makes one question what is the real intent of the research. It would have been better if the researchers have concluded their research illustrating the differ measures that can be done to avoid such a situation and not paint such a dreadful picture of future.

Dismissing Crypto Is Like Dismissing Internet 1993 VC Investor

A general partner at Andreessen Horowitz (A16Z), Benedict Evans has recently stated that dismissing cryptocurrencies is like dismissing the internet during the early 90’s.

A16Z is one of the most successful venture capital firms in the world and a statement from one of its partners should not be taken lightly.

He explains that cryptocurrency today has a lot in common with the internet of 1993 and 1999, stating that it has huge potential with few use cases invented yet.

However the venture capitalist said that many have mistaken applications for the enabling layer.

Ben Horotwitz, a legendary venture capitalist investor and the co-founder of A16z emphasized in the past that emerging technology in the beginning seems to be significantly inferior to existing technologies.

This is due to the discrepancy in efficiency and practicality between emerging technologies and existing solutions.

In effect it is much easier to dismiss newly created technologies as scams or useless.

But has Evan explains as the market matures, more mainstream use cases will emerge and technologies employed by projects in the sector will significantly improve.

We can easily see that it is much easier for investors, venture capitalist and hedge funds to dismiss this disruptive and revolutionary technology than to understand and recognize its potential in the long-term to operate as a consensus currency and a global supercomputer.

No one is really sure when and if mass adoption will start to occur but one thing for sure when cryptocurrency achieve mainstream adoption, investors that did not consider the potential of the technology will be left behind similar to what happened in the case of the internet in the late 90s.

Finance Minister Of South Korea Sees No Problem Allowing Crypto Exchanges Banking Services

The commissioner of the Financial Services Commission (FSC) of South Korea, Choi Jong-Fu has recently reaffirmed his positive stance with regards to providing virtual bank accounts to local cryptocurrency exchanges.

He had said that there are no known issues to compliance and security in the process of banks servicing the burgeoning sector.

He emphasized that as a long as cryptocurrency trading platforms are well equipped with know your customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering systems there should be no problem obtaining baking services from the country’s commercial financial institutions.

This public statement of the commissioner should clarify the stance of the government and local authorities towards cryptocurrency exchanges and should end incidents in the past that commercial banks were pressured to stop servicing crypto exchanges like what happened to Nongyup commercial bank that ended its services to Bithumb and to other major cryptocurrency exchanges due to the interference of the South Korean government.

The cryptocurrency climate in South Korea could never be better with government warming up to blockchain and cryptocurrencies as well as crypto exchange infrastructure rapidly maturing.

In August of this year the security analyst at KISA and Ministry of Science and IT have stated that all the major exchanges in the country has already deployed solid security and internal management systems integrated into their exchanges.

The improving relationship of traditional financial institutions and crypto-centric organization will further improve its current state.

Coinbase Debanks IPO Initiative But Reveals Adding Up To 300 Digital Assets

Asiff Hirj, the President and COO of Coinbase, has recently declared that his company will not pursue any IPO initiative anytime soon.

Although he has stated in the past that an IPO might be a natural path the company will take in the future but clarified that it is not their top priority as of the moment and there are other things that they are currently working on that an IPO is the least of their priorities for now.

Reports of Coinbase possibly announcing an IPO has been floated by CNBC host Ran Neuner claiming that his Crypto Trader show would be exclusively divulging the details on October 26, 2018.

However the much anticipated announcement never took place. Hirji states that executives wanted to diversify revenue streams across its various platforms in the coming years.

The executive also revealed that the company will seek to circumvent complex U.S. regulations on cryptocurrency tokens by offering non-residents more assets to trade.

In a move that may mimic the move of Bittrex which has recently announced the segregation of it U.S. and international client base this week into a separate platform registered in Malta.

This will enable the company a much more diverse cryptocurrency offering for international clients and might even enable it to operate in territories that previously was not able to operate in.

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