A MAJOR decision from leading investment bank Goldman Sachs could prove to be good news for Bitcoin investors by offering a huge confidence boost and potentially a rise in prices, it has emerged.
Goldman Sachs is to become the first regulated financial institution to offer its clients to trade Bitcoin futures via one of its New York desks.The company is making the foray into the crypto futures market after pressure mounted on the bank from clients singing the praises of virtual currencies.Cryptocurrency analyst Matthew Newton said the move was not a “huge surprise” given the vast amount of attention given to virtual money in the last year and a half.He said: “This shouldn’t come as a huge surprise to anyone who has been paying attention to cryptocurrencies over the last 18 months.
Goldman Sachs is to become the first regulated financial institution to offer its clients to trade Bitcoin futures via one of its New York desks.The company is making the foray into the crypto futures market after pressure mounted on the bank from clients singing the praises of virtual currencies.Cryptocurrency analyst Matthew Newton said the move was not a “huge surprise” given the vast amount of attention given to virtual money in the last year and a half.He said: “This shouldn’t come as a huge surprise to anyone who has been paying attention to cryptocurrencies over the last 18 months.
“It will still take time for institutional investors to fully come around – and the fact that Goldman won’t be buying or selling actual coins suggest some scepticism remains – but there’s a growing acceptance that these assets are here to stay.”The initiative from the bank will be led by its "digital assets" trader Justin Schmidt - Bitcoin futures will be traded with Goldman Sachs’ own funds on behalf of its clients.Despite the renowned bank making its first foray into the crypto space, Barclays CEO Jes Staley recently said virtual markets are a “real challenge” and expressed doubts over security.
"On the other side of it, there is the possibility of cryptocurrencies being used for activities that the bank wants no part of."Bitcoin is trading at $8,688.86 at the time of writing - the move from Goldman Sachs could increase investor confidence and bump up prices.
In the last month the cryptocurrency has seen its value rise by 8.2 per cent.This marks a whopping rise of $658.64 to its price.But Bitcoin has seen rapid declines and price spikes because of the monstrous volatility of the crypto space, making investment a high-risk venture.