By Eurasia Business News – May 13, 2021

View on Central Park in New York City. Photo credit : Pixabay.

Goldman Sachs starts cryptocurrency trading. The well-known Manhattan bank becomes the first on Wall Street to venture into this activity. In an internal memo obtained by the media CNBC, Goldman Sachs informed its staff working in its markets division that a dedicated team for trading virtual currencies has been formed within its “currency and emerging markets trading”’ arm, under the responsibility of Rajesh Venkataramani, a Goldman Sachs partner.

The global investment bank does not buy or sell cryptos including Bitcoin directly, but trades two kinds of bitcoin-linked derivatives.

“Going forward, as we continue to expand our market presence, albeit in a measured manner, we are selectively integrating new liquidity providers to help us expand our offering,” Mr. Venkataraman details in the memo.

In addition, the executive explains that the establishment yesterday launched its digital assets ‘dashboard’, which provides its customers with daily and intra-day data and information on the cryptocurrency market.

Banks, including Goldman and rival Morgan Stanley, had announced plans to offer bitcoin investments to rich clients in their wealth management divisions but have mostly stayed away from the volatile asset in their Wall Street trading operations. 

Earlier in March, Reuters  reported that Goldman Sachs has launched its cryptocurrency trading department and will begin working with bitcoin futures and non-deliverable forward contracts for clients.

On May 7, the banking corporation Citigroup is considering launching cryptocurrency services for clients in light of growing demand, the  head of the bank’s global currency department, Itay Takman, told the Financial Times.

Bitcoin price reached $ 64,000 for the first time in April as Coinbase Global Inc., the famous cryptocurrency exchange, was listed on the the Nasdaq.

Investment fund like  SkyBridge Capital, fintech like Paypal or Square Inc. and industrial tech companies such as Tesla Inc have invested significant funds in Bitcoin.

Bitcoin is likely to continue to rise in value as it is used to hedge against inflation and the consequences of pandemics. The US Consumer Price Index, which measures a basket of goods as well as energy and housing costs, rose 4.2% in April 2021, from a year earlier.

 This bitcoin rush would be favoured in particular by the status of the cryptocurrency against the depreciation of “classic” currencies, by the interest aroused among an increasingly wide range of institutional investors and the growth of the blockchain industry.

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