Is Goldman Sachs Getting Closer to the Crypto Market?

If there is anything that made a good impression in the crypto market last month, it was the possible entry of whales in the crypto market. Come to think of it, this is something that a lot of investors are waiting for. This would signify a good amount of money that could potentially give a bullish run for the crypto industry.

Goldman Sachs has been one of the institutional investors that are getting attention from the crypto market lately.

Lloyd Blankfein Is Stepping Down as CEO of Goldman Sachs

The CEO of Goldman Sachs, Lloyd Blankfein is planning to step down in December. And for the crypto world, this is big news for a number of good reasons. One, in late November, Blankfein called bitcoin a tool of fraud. This was the time when Bitcoin was still around $10,000 and its price was still going up eventually reaching near $20,000 by mid-December.

With the bank’s intention to have a bitcoin trading desk and even a futures contract that is tied to Bitcoin, could this mean that Goldman Sachs is definitely entering the crypto world now that Blankfein is about to go?

Blankfein mentioned that he was open when it comes to Bitcoin and he won’t allow his opinion to impact the overall strategy of the company. He even said that Bitcoin could actually prove to be the “next step” in the evolution of money. He also mentioned that he may be uncomfortable with Bitcoin but he felt the same skepticism with cell phones when he first encountered them.

He even mentioned that he worked with things that he didn’t love. And yes, that is despite the fact that he called Bitcoin as a potential bubble.

Goldman Sachs Moving Towards Crypto

Goldman Sachs disclosed in February that it filed its cryptocurrency and blockchain related investments with the SEC. They also mentioned that they want to support clients’ Bitcoin futures trades. However, they believe that these futures trades could hurt the company in case there are issues in blockchain protocols.

Critics and  Believers

Entry of large capital towards the crypto market can be quite a dream come true for the industry. However, prominent business people have mixed opinions regarding cryptocurrencies. If you will ask Bill Gates, he said that he would short Bitcoin if he could simply because it is worthless. He said that “I would short it if there was an easy way to do it. An asset class you’re not producing anything, so you shouldn’t expect it to go up”. He also added that “It’s kind of a pure ‘greater fool theory’ type of investment”

But of course, there are proponents who challenged what Bill Gates said. Tyler Winklevoss, who is the founder of the cryptocurrency exchange Gemni tweeted that Bill Gates should put his money where his mouth is and short Bitcoin.

Tyler Winklevoss is the type who dares critics. In fact, it wasn’t the first time that this happened. He also dared Jamie Dimon who is the CEO of JPMorgan to short Bitcoin if he said that it was a fraud.