After a lot of back and forth, the investment banking giant Goldman Sachs has finally made their stance on crypto clear. On Wednesday, as reported by the New York Times, officials from the company confirmed that they are planning to start a Bitcoin trading desk.

Goldman Sachs has been rumoured to have started planning the potential crypto desk back in December 2017 itself, however the rumours were repeatedly shot down by different officials from the company time and time again. There were also a bit of speculation around the bank creating and distributing its very own cryptocurrency as well.

Along with the announcement of starting the first ever cryptocurrency trading desk on Wall Street, officials clarified that they will not be buying and selling Bitcoins just yet. They  instead will be providing contracts to their customers with links to the price of Bitcoin.

The bank is looking at providing various contracts and investments to their customers in the US first then moving on to becoming able to facilitate physical trading of Bitcoin. The bank has already hired cryptocurrency expert Justin Schmidt who, initially, will be heading the Bitcoin trading desk and providing GS’s clients with valuable exposure to the cryptocurrency market.

The fact that the investment will not be selling and buying, but still setting up and starting a desk is a little bittersweet. Irrespective of which, this is a monumental move because while most banks shy away from cryptocurrency because of their lack of regulation and high levels of scandal, one of the biggest names in the finance industry is ready to put up with it.

Officials confirmed that they are going to try to move towards more regulations for the market that makes sure that the actual ‘trading’ that consists of buying and selling is something that the bank will be able to offer to its customers. But with Goldman Sachs’ name behind the world’s first cryptocurrency lends quite a considerable amount of credibility to the market.

Another major concern the bank has about trading in Bitcoin is the security of them once traded. Bitcoin is no stranger to hacks and theft, so in order to make sure that the trading is monetarily advantageous to their clients they will need to figure out a way to safeguard them.

Either way, the acceptance and willingness that Goldman Sachs’ has shown bodes well for the cryptocurrency market and Bitcoin in particular. And this appears to be the first ever cryptocurrency trading desk to be opened on Wall Street.

Ramaa Mohan