Banking giant Goldman Sachs is reportedly looking to offer crypto investment services to its deep-pocketed clients in the coming months.
According to a new report by CNBC, the investment bank soon plans to add support for Bitcoin (BTC) and a “full spectrum” of other crypto assets due to high demand from its high-net-worth customers.
Says Mary Rich, the newly appointed head of digital assets for Goldman Sachs’ private wealth management division,
“We are working closely with teams across the firm to explore ways to offer thoughtful and appropriate access to the ecosystem for private wealth clients, and that is something we expect to offer in the near term…
There’s a contingent of clients who are looking to [cryptocurrencies] as a hedge against inflation, and the macro backdrop over the past year has certainly played into that.
There are also a large contingent of clients who feel like we’re sitting at the dawn of a new Internet in some ways and are looking for ways to participate in this space.”
Goldman Sachs’ private wealth management is geared toward affluent clients with a minimum of $25 million to invest.
Currently, the bank is in the middle of gathering the necessary permissions needed from state and federal regulatory agencies, such as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the New York Department of Financial Services, to lawfully offer crypto services, sources with knowledge of the matter told CNBC.
If approved, Goldman Sachs would join fellow US-based banking titan Morgan Stanley in offering up BTC investment services to consumers.