According to the American banker, Goldman Sachs is waiting for the U.S government to co-sign crypto-currencies before it can make its foray into the much-publicized space.
The DTCC conference held this week saw Martin Chavez- a global co-head of the securities division at Goldman outline that no one should expect the investment financial giant to delve more into the crypto space, before it had received heavy backing from the U.S government.
Chavez was however quick to point out that the firm was still interested in crypto-currencies though.
“We still have things that take overnight or a couple of days. The service level agreement is not where we want it. So there’s no question in my mind that there’s super interesting technology there.”
The senior executives at Goldman Sachs have firm belief in the future of crypto-currencies, but lean more towards stable coins as a solution rather than Bitcoin. Chavez continued by explaining how a government-backed currency would spur more market confidence.
“If we’re in the jurisdiction of the U.S. and I owe you some money and I give you one of these bills and you accept it, I’ve extinguished the debt and it’s backed by the force of the sovereign. I wouldn’t forget that as I start thinking about digital currencies and somehow going around sovereign” he said.
That statement showed that while Goldman Sachs are all for a digital asset future, they are also keen on establishing a middle ground, where a central party provides some stability. Unfortunately, this is indeed a tough mixed bag as we’ve seen recently with the tether debacle.
Chavez’s will hopefully quite the rumors that were going around about the firm and crypto-currency. It was recently rumored that the financial giant was considering putting in place a desk, sorely dedicated to crypto. This was proven as false after Goldman refuted the story, with Chavez emphasizing at the DTCC Conference that the firm had no plans to set up such a desk in the immediate future.
The rumor mill also had it that Goldman Sachs was on the verge of providing crypto-currency custodial service, which is also false. Though clients have continually requested the firm to provide crypto custodial services, the firm is still awaiting regulatory approval inorder to have the ability to do so. The trading of Bitcoin futures is the only crypto service the firm currently offers to date.
Goldman Sachs’ stance on crypto-currencies shows that though a lot of banks and financial giants such as JPMorgan have an open arms attitude towards cryptos, there are others who have their reservations. Reservations based on either regulatory or stability concerns.
Image Courtesy of Bitcoin.com
