Goldman Sachs Is Reportedly Weighing a Crypto Custody Service

Bank-boxes
6 August 2018

Having launched bitcoin futures trading in May, Goldman Sachs is now pondering the launch of a cryptocurrency custody service, according to Bloomberg.

In a report published Monday, the news service cites anonymous sources as saying that the investment bank is mulling the creation of a secure storage service aimed at crypto funds to help protect them against the risk of hacking.

So far, though, it seems the possibility is still being discussed and a launch date is not certain. The banking group told Bloomberg that, while it is investigating “various digital products,” it hasn’t yet made a decision on any product offering.

However, the sources indicated the service could eventually help Goldman Sachs open up other crypto-focused services, such as a brokerage.

The news comes just a month after major cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase launched its own custody service, aiming to serve institutions prepared to deposit over $10 million worth of digital assets. Other startups in the crypto space also offer to keep your assets safe for a fee, including BitGo which revealed it was courting Wall Street firms in May.

While previously Goldman Sachs has been largely skeptical about cryptos, warning investors in January that they were “in a bubble,” the company said in May it would start trading bitcoin futures launched by Cboe and CME late last year.

At the time it said it would use its own money to trade bitcoin futures on behalf of its clients.

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