Why Goldman Sachs Plans to Expand Its Crypto Platform
Goldman Sachs wants to delve deeper into crypto-related services. In an interaction with Bloomberg News, Mathew McDermott, Global Head of Digital Assets, said the new crypto platform currently under development would focus on facilitating traditional trading and crypto transactions on blockchain networks. The development comes days after pro-crypto billionaire Donald Trump was elected as the 47th US President – a decision that dramatically increased Bitcoin’s value to over $93,000 (approximately Rs. 78.5 lakh).
Currently, the New York-headquartered bank is in talks with several other fintech and Web3 companies to equip the crypto platform with various features, the report said by Bloomberg.
This crypto platform, which could take between 12 and 18 months to launch, will be established as an individual company that would focus on catering to institutional investors and large-scale financial companies.
The interest of institutional investors in crypto has increased exponentially. In a recent conversation with Gadgets360, Catherine Chen, the head of VIP and institutional investors at Binance, said that the launch of crypto ETFs in the US and other parts of the world has made these virtual digital assets more accessible for large investors to experiment with . through traditional marketplaces, without having to go through the effort of signing up with crypto exchanges.
A report from Goldman shows that crypto investments by family businesses increased from 16 percent in 2021 to 32 percent in 2023.
According to McDermott, the idea behind Goldman working on this Web3 project is to offer large-scale investors and family-owned businesses a crypto platform that is “industry owned” – essentially tied to an established traditional banking player.
According to the report, the investment bank also plans to resume Bitcoin-backed lending services in the future.
Goldman Sachs has been involved in crypto-related services for some time. In May 2022, the bank offered its first-ever Bitcoin-backed loan to Coinbase.
