Reports on Reuters today revealed that American multinational investment bank, Goldman Sachs, will offer bitcoin futures and non-deliverable forwards on behalf of its clients starting next week.
According to sources familiar with the matter, the move is part of the bank’s effort to take advantage of the fast-growing crypto space, which is gradually becoming an investment of choice for institutional players.
Notably, the bank is also considering developing a Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) soon as part of its commitment to fully venture into the industry.
Based on this regard, the unnamed source noted that Goldman Sachs had already “issued a request for information to explore digital asset custody.”
In late 2017, Goldman Sachs became the first Wall Street biggest firm to ever consider offering crypto-related products, as the bank was planning to open a cryptocurrency desk.
At the time, the Wall Street financial institution was working on how to address security challenges associated with the business, as well as how it would custody the assets.
Plans were on the way for the launch slated for late 2018 when reports emerged in September that same year that the bank has chosen not to offer crypto-related investments.
Sources said that the bank dropped its crypto plans due to the regulatory concerns associated with the industry, with regulators breathing down the neck of most projects.
The issue of regulatory uncertainty has been the major stumbling block that hindered several institutional players from getting involved with cryptocurrencies.
Interestingly, there have been clearer regulations in recent times luring institutional investors like Microstrategy and Tesla.
The entrance of these large corporations has given other institutional investors the greenlight that crypto is safe compared to how it was viewed in 2018.
Thus it could be the reason Goldman Sach is making plans to restart its cryptocurrency trading desk in earnest.
However, Goldman Sachs’ second shot at launching a cryptocurrency trading desk comes less than a year after the bank told its clients during a conference call that bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are not an asset class.
Reports at the time suggested that part of the reason for the call was to discourage its customers from including bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in their portfolio.