Home > Goldman Sachs confirm that it is still working on bitcoin trading platform, calling out previous stories as 'fake news'
Goldman Sachs confirm that it is still working on bitcoin trading platform, calling out previous stories as 'fake news'
September 07, 2018 10:42:06 September 7, 2018 JamesLeave a comment
At TechCrunch Disrupt, Goldman Sachs Chief Financial Officer Martin Chaves confirmed that the investment bank was still progressing with its plans to launch a Bitcoin trading platform, calling a previous story about it pulling out of such plans 'fake news'.
The previous days crash
Within the last two days, the cryptocurrency market experienced a significant drop in prices, something that was mostly attributed to the unconfirmed reports that Goldman Sachs was ditching its plans to launch a crypto trading desk. Understanding the gravity of this situation, Martin Chaves, the CTO of Goldman Sachs, came out clearly to clarify the bank's stance, calling out such reports as "fake news". He said:
I was in New York yesterday and I was co-chairing our risk committee, and I saw the news article….. It wasn't like we announced anything or that anything had changed for us… I never thought I'd hear myself actually use this term, but I'd really have to describe that as fake news.
Plans with derivative trading for Bitcoin going forwards
In fact, Chaves confirmed at TechCrunch Disrupt that the Wall Street investment bank was considering bringing forward a derivative for bitcoin because its 'clients want it'. However, he did not give a timeline for when it could be expected to launch. He explained:
Our institutional clients said, 'We would love for you to clear these new Bitcoin-linked futures contracts offered by the exchanges', so we've been doing that, and then clients since May [started to ask], 'We would like for you also to provide us liquidity and trade the principal as principal the futures contracts, not just clear them,' and so we've been doing that, the next stage of the exploration, what we call 'non-deliverable forwards.
The crypto community rejoices
The news about Goldman Sachs ditching its plans to launch a bitcoin trading desk was not received well by the crypto community yesterday. To many, it suggested there was a general pullback from institutional money flowing in the market, which is considered as a major trigger for any potential bull runs in the future. Unsurprisingly, the sudden news spurred on a wave of shorts. At the time, the crypto community feared that the price of Bitcoin would continue to drop, taking other altcoins down with it. However, the price has since stabilised around £5024 ($6500).
The statement by Martin Chaves will certainly bring more calm to the market, and this will likely slowly reflect in the price of bitcoin going forwards. If the Wall Street Bank moves ahead with its plans to launch a trading desk, as well as the bitcoin derivative it calls a 'non-deliverable forward', the crypto market could well rejoice.
Bitcoin dips sharply, losing $1,000 in a day and Ethereum falls to a 2018 low
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James is a cryptocurrency enthusiast, an advocate for the development and exposure of blockchain technology, and believes in the use of digital assets for the good of the society. He has been writing about crypto since he first learnt about cryptocurrencies in 2010. Initially, he was attracted by the disruptive economic and social implications of virtual currencies and blockchain technology, and over the years he has dedicated himself to learn everything he can about the industry.