Goldman Sachs Launches Bitcoin Derivatives Trading as ‘Institutional Demand Continues to Grow Significantly’

Investment bank Goldman Sachs has reportedly begun offering a bitcoin investment product to clients. The firm has opened up trading with non-deliverable forwards, a bitcoin derivatives product. To hedge against the cryptocurrency’s volatility, Goldman Sachs will trade bitcoin futures on CME Group.

Goldman Sachs Begins Offering Bitcoin Product to Clients

Investment bank Goldman Sachs “has opened up trading with non-deliverable forwards, a derivative tied to bitcoin’s price that pays out in cash,” Bloomberg reported Thursday.

The firm is protecting itself from bitcoin’s volatility by buying and selling bitcoin futures in block trades on CME Group Inc., using Cumberland DRW as its trading partner, the publication conveyed. The investment bank recently brought back its bitcoin trading desk and revealed in March that it plans to offer a full spectrum of bitcoin investment products.

Goldman Sachs’ Asia Pacific head of digital assets, Max Minton, explained that the firm’s new bitcoin offering is “paving the way for us to evolve our nascent cash-settled cryptocurrency capabilities.” He was quoted as saying:

Institutional demand continues to grow significantly in this space, and being able to work with partners like Cumberland will help us expand our capabilities.

Cumberland DRW’s global head of business development, Justin Chow, said that “Goldman Sachs serves as a bellwether of how sophisticated, institutional investors approach shifts in the market,” elaborating:

We’ve seen rapid adoption and interest in crypto from more traditional financial firms this year, and Goldman’s entrance into the space is yet another sign of how it’s maturing.

What do you think about Goldman Sachs offering bitcoin derivatives to clients? Let us know in the comments section below.