Goldman Sachs is planning Bitcoin trading very soon

Bitcoin enjoyed a little pop after news broke that Goldman Sachs was officially moving towards launching a bitcoin trading operation.

The Wall Street investment bank will soon start trading bitcoin futures with its own money for its clients, according to the New York Times. It will also offer so-called non-deliverable forwards, another type of derivative product which the bank will create.

The Times reported Wednesday that while the exact launch date of the new trading operation is not yet set, the move came after the bank’s board of directors signed off on the initiative. Goldman is also set to “create its own, more flexible version of a future, known as a non-deliverable forward, which it will offer to clients,” according to the report.

Goldman executive Rana Yared said the decision resulted from a growing number of inquiries from clients that indicated interest in holding bitcoin as an alternative asset.

“It resonates with us when a client says, ‘I want to hold bitcoin or bitcoin futures because I think it is an alternate store of value,'” she told the Times.

The news reflects the growing involvement of Goldman in the crypto-market, as CEO Lloyd Blankfein has previously said that the investment bank was clearing bitcoin futures for its clients. Per the Times, any deeper action – including the direct handling of bitcoin – will only come following approval from U.S. regulators.

And according to Yared, Goldman officials have taken a cautious approach throughout the process.

“For almost every person involved, there has been personal skepticism brought to the table,” Yared was quoted as saying, adding: “It is not a new risk that we don’t understand. It is just a heightened risk that we need to be extra aware of here.”

This decision of Goldman Sachs comes along with a lot of uncertainties, as the crypto space still remains highly unregulated and still, there are only a few measures being taken at the moment in curbing the market manipulation or extreme price volatility. After achieving its all-time high of $20000 during the mid-December 2017, Bitcoin was seen on a steep downfall earlier this year correcting more than 70% from its peak, before finally recovering in the last month of April.

The fall in Bitcoin and the overall cryptocurrency was due to the dark cloud of regulatory oversight as traders and investors started worrying about future steps the regulatory bodies could take in order to control at that time exploding crypto markets. Yared stated:

“It is not a new risk that we don’t understand. It is just a heightened risk that we need to be extra aware of here.”

Notably, Goldman Sachs is the first banking giant from the Wall Street to clear trades for its clients involved in buying or selling Bitcoin futures through the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE). The publication notes that in addition to allowing its clients to hold digital currencies, the company “will also create its own, more flexible version of a future, known as a non-deliverable forward, which it will offer to clients.”