Goldman Sachs postpones plans to open a bitcoin trading platform

Goldman Sachs postpones plans to open a bitcoin trading platform

Even Goldman Sachs, the Wall Street giant that trades the market's most complex assets, can't find a way to sell bitcoin because regulatory issues are still pending.

Goldman Sachs is currently involved in providing custodial services, which means that the bank owns the cryptocurrency and may be monitoring price movements on behalf of the fund's large clients, since in order for large institutional investors to begin trading bitcoin, there must be reliable custodians to hold the assets.

On the platform, bank executives have concluded that it will still take some time and legislative issues to be resolved before a regulated bank will be allowed to trade cryptocurrency.

The bank already offers bitcoin futures and contracts for difference, which allow an investor to bet on the price of bitcoin without owning the underlying asset.

The investment bank first expressed interest back in October 2017, when company reports said that the bank's currency trading department and strategic investing department would begin studying the industry. In December, Bloomberg reported that the bank intends to launch a trading platform no later than June. The securities trading department, which is responsible for trading stocks, bonds and currencies, was responsible for the site. And in April, the bank hired Justin Schmidt as head of digital asset markets.

In May, the NYTimes reported that The bank is exploring the possibility of obtaining regulatory approval to open the site and is developing a way to manage the risks associated with trading digital currencies. At the time, Schmidt was considering trading bitcoin if the bank could get approval from the Federal Reserve and New York State financial regulators. However, the bank faced regulatory obstacles, the details of which were not disclosed. The bank also proposed some regulatory changes that could protect banks like Goldman from cryptocurrency risks. 

Lal Brainard, a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, speaking about cryptocurrency at the time, noted that there is extreme volatility, a lack of regulation and a legal framework to protect consumers and combat money laundering.. “This new asset and new accounting and data technology, which is not controlled by any individual or institution, presents a huge opportunity for modern technology, but also its own challenges.” 

Goldman Sachs is a competitor to many companies that want to become a provider of services for storing clients' cryptocurrencies. Exchange Coinbase and BitGo are large clients requiring custodial services. Fidelity, Nomura and JPMorgan are also exploring the possibility of providing such services.



According to businessinsider.com

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