Goldman Sachs appointed trader Justin Schmidt as head of its crypto department

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. made the first appointment to a new position related to cryptocurrencies. Justin Schmidt, a former cryptocurrency trader, has been appointed as the financial services giant seeks to explore the possibility of creating a Bitcoin trading platform.

Bank spokeswoman Tiffany Galvin-Cohen said Schmidt joined the bank as vice president and head of digital assets for the company's New York division effective April 16. 

The solution is expected to help its clients gain access to digital currency transactions. Goldman Sachs may become the first American bank to create a crypto platform. This bank was one of the first to clear bitcoin futures, which was handled by Cboe Global Markets Inc. and CME Group. The bank will be ready to launch a crypto platform at the end of June.

Schmidt, a computer graduate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, previously worked for a variety of trading firms, including Seven Eight Capital LLC and WorldQuant LLC.

Recall that in early January of this year, the chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs Lloyd Blankfein saidthat the high volatility of cryptocurrencies means it is too early for banks to consider them seriously. In an interview with Bloomberg, Blankfein said: “If the value of a cryptocurrency can rise or fall by 20 percent in just one day, it cannot be called a currency and cannot be perceived as a store of value.”

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