September 12, 2017[1] will go down in infamy when talking about the relationships between traditional fiat financial institutions and their views on cryptocurrency. It was the day that JP Morgan CEO, Jamie Dimon, called Bitcoin a ‘fraud’[2].
A lot has happened in the financial and crypto space in the eight months following that event, especially in terms of banking institutions and Wall Street’s perception of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. As Bitcoin started making a few waves in traditional finance, Wall Street-types were polarized[3]. Some scoffed at the idea of digital, decentralized currency, while others took note and saw potential.
It has now come to a point where the financial fiat sector is dipping more than just a toe into the cryptocurrency world; with futures trading now well established[4] and blockchain experts being hired left[5], right, and centre[6]. There is a definite race on now for major banks to start offering clients the chance to trade cryptocurrency through their offerings.
Goldman Sachs
On May 3, Goldman Sachs, a financial institution that has done a turnaround in terms of its attitude towards cryptocurrency, announced[7] that it does not believe Bitcoin is a fraud. This was a hark-back to those famous words from Jamie Dimon, but more importantly, they also announced their plans to start trading crypto.
Commenting on the decision, Rana Yared, an Goldman Sachs executive involved in creating the offerings, said[8] the bank had been “inundated” with client requests.
“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.’”
Goldman’s path to potentially get its own cryptocurrency desk up and running
