Despite the weekend's crypto crash, the investment bank has followed through on plans to expand its Ethereum trading options.
Banking giant Goldman Sachs began trading a derivative asset tied to Ether on Monday. The asset is intended to provide investors with indirect exposure to Ether – the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap.
As reported by Bloomberg, the counterparty of the trade was Marex Financial – a London-based financial services firm.
The move comes on a day when the entire crypto market – including Ether – has fallen to lows unseen since December 2020. The total market is now worth less than $1 trillion, with Bitcoin’s market cap below $450 billion.
The trade arguably indicates a sense of long-term faith in crypto as an asset class, despite recent downturns. In January, the company’s former CEO admitted that crypto is “happening” after being a longtime skeptic.
In the past, the bulk of Goldman’s crypto trading options has centered around Bitcoin-linked derivatives, after restarting such services in July of 2021. It became the first major US bank to offer a Bitcoin OTC options trade in March.
Goldman announced that it would soon offer cash-settled Ether trading options in April, and even claimed the crypto could surpass Bitcoin as a store of value in July 2021.
The bank initially expected Ether to reach $8000 by the end of 2021, but that prediction fell far off target.
In February of 2020, both Goldman Sachs and Citigroup experimented with a blockchain-based equity swap, similar to those possible with Ethereum.
Andrew is content writer with a passion for Bitcoin. He became familiar with Bitcoin back in 2013, but began diligently studying the blockchain technology and its economic implications in 2017. Ever since, he’s believed in the network’s power to replace the current global monetary system, and provide financial freedom to billions worldwide.
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