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Is Goldman Sachs Really Ditching Crypto Trading?

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Goldman Sachs

A new announcement by Goldman Sachs indicates that the bank will give up on crypto trading desks, at least for now. Instead, they wish to focus on new projects, like crypto custody products.

Goldman Sachs drops trading desk

A lot of people were shocked or even enraged when they heard the new announcement by Goldman Sachs. It would seem that trading Bitcoin is a more difficult concept that many have believed. This might be why the bank officially decided to drop its plans for opening a trading desk for cryptos. People familiar with the issue claim that regulatory framework simply isn’t clear enough.

https://twitter.com/iamjosephyoung/status/1037369047027867649

So, the bank did the only thing it could do — it moved the project further down the line and decided to dedicate its efforts to something else. This doesn’t mean that they will never get back to the trading desks. However, now is not the right time to deal with that, apparently.

While it is waiting for the better crypto regulations to arrive, Goldman will focus on something else. One of the new projects seems to include crypto custody products. This indicates that the bank is a cryptocurrency holder and that it will keep a close eye on the prices. The reason for the new project might be the goal of helping the large firms get comfortable with cryptos. Numerous analysts believe that reputable custody offerings are something that institutions need in order to become relaxed around cryptos.

The lack of proper regulatory solutions

For months, Goldman was asking for patience as it studied ways of entering the crypto trading industry. The crypto enthusiasts were patient, until a few weeks ago, when the bank’s executives started saying that there are too many factors out of their control. The bank’s spokesman ended up saying that they are exploring the best ways to serve clients. However, the statement also claims that there is still no conclusion regarding the scope of a digital asset offering.

The company has already started creating thee markets for those clients interested in BTC futures and contracts for difference. These will allow investors to guess Bitcoin’s price without the need to actually own the asset. Over time, Goldman made attempts to downplay the ambition to create a trading desk. They stated that the industry still requires exploring in order to serve the customers in the best way.

The bank first announced its interest in cryptocurrencies back in October 2017. Various reports from that time noted that the bank is studying the crypto industry and that it even has a special group devoted to this.

Then, in December of last year, the bank expressed the desire to put up a trading desk, likely before June 2018. It would be located in the securities division, which is where the company does most of its trading. After that, the next notable development came in April, when Justin Schmidt became the head of digital asset markets for the bank.

Finally, in May, new reports came in, stating that the bank would further explore trading desk, if only the regulations were proper. Apparently, they needed a way to deal with the risk of being a crypto holder. In the confusion, a new rumor emerged, claiming that the bank is about to open its trading desk.

However, in truth, the bank ran into regulatory issues, according to one of the sources. They were desperately trying to find some sign of regulatory change that would protect them and others from crypto trading risks. The biggest concerns were money laundering, the lack of governance, huge volatility, and the lack of legal frameworks that would protect consumers.

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Disclaimer: This article should not be taken as, and is not intended to provide, investment advice. Global Coin Report and/or its affiliates, employees, writers, and subcontractors are cryptocurrency investors and from time to time may or may not have holdings in some of the coins or tokens they cover. Please conduct your own thorough research before investing in any cryptocurrency and read our full disclaimer.

Image courtesy of J J via Flickr

Altcoins

XNO Token of Xeno NFT Hub listed on Bithumb Korea Exchange

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Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 25th January, 2021, // ChainWire //

Xeno Holdings Limited (xno.live ), a blockchain solutions company based in Hong Kong, has announced the listing of its ecosystem utility token XNO on the ‘Bithumb Korea’ cryptocurrency exchange on January 21st 2021.

Xeno NFT Hub (market.xno.live ), developed by Xeno Holdings, enables easy minting of digital items into NFTs while also providing a marketplace where anyone can securely trade NFTs.

The Xeno NFT Hub project team includes former members of the technology project Yosemite X based in San Francisco and professionals such as Gabby Dizon who is a games industry expert and NFT space influencer based in Southeast Asia.

NFT(Non-Fungible Token) technology has recently gained huge focus in the blockchain arena and beyond, making waves in the online gaming sector, the art world, and the digital copyrights industry in recent years. The strongest feature of NFTs is that “NFTs are unique digital assets that cannot be replaced or forged”. Unlike fungible tokens such as Bitcoin or Ether, NFTs are not interchangeable for other tokens of the same type but instead each NFT has a unique value and specific information that cannot be replaced. This fact makes NFTs the perfect solution to record and prove ownership of digital and real-world items like works of art, game items, limited-edition collectibles, and more. One of the ways to have a successful…

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Altcoins

Should Crypto Projects Devote Resources to Community Growth and Marketing?

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2020 has been an incredible year for crypto as investors have generated windfall profits and crypto projects have seen their businesses gain the spotlight they’ve been looking for.  While Bitcoin has received most of the attention after major institutional investors announced they were accumulating the increasingly scarce asset, many altcoins have also seen their fair share of glory.  When looking at all the big winners of the past year, the first project that probably comes to mind is Chainlink, having appreciated by more than 550% YTD and now valued at over $4.5 billion.  But, the actual biggest winner of the year is HEX with a YTD return of over 5,000%.

I mention both of the above projects as they have each taken slightly different paths to achieve greatness.  Chainlink has devoted resources toward building a fundamentally sound business with many strategic partnerships while HEX has spent vast sums of money on marketing and promotion.  Both approaches are valid, but one thing is certain, it is absolutely imperative for crypto projects to let the crypto community know what makes them special.  Of course, one of the reasons that makes crypto so valuable is the powerful blockchain technology that most projects are utilizing.

Cryptocurrency vs. Blockchain Technology

It’s important to make a distinction between blockchain technology and cryptocurrency.  Although they are often used interchangeably, they are different.  Blockchain technology and crypto were both created after the 2008 financial crisis, but cryptocurrency…

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Altcoins

XENO starts VIP NFT trading service and collaborates with contemporary artist Hiro Yamagata

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Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 24th December, 2020, // ChainWire //

The XENO NFT Hub (https://xno.live) will provide a crypto-powered digital items and collectables trading platform allowing users to create, buy, and sell NFTs. Additionally it will support auction based listings, governance and voting mechanisms, trade history tracking, user rating and other advanced features.

As a first step towards its fully comprehensive service, XENO NFT Hub launched a recent VIP service to select users and early adopters in December 2020 with plans for a full Public Beta to open in June 2021. 

“NFTs are extremely flexible in their usage, from digital event tickets to artwork, and while NFTs have a very wide spectrum of uses and categories XENO will initially focus its partnership efforts and its own item curation on three primary areas: gaming, sports & entertainment, and collectibles.”, said XENO NFT Hub president Anthony Di Franco.

He also added “This does not mean we will prohibit other types of NFTs from our ecosystem However, it simply means that XENO’s efforts as a company will be targeted into these verticals initially as a cohesive business approach.”

Development and Procurement Lead, Gabby Dizon explained, “Despite our initial focus, we found ourselves with a unique opportunity to host some of the works of Mr. Hiro Yamagata. We are collaborating with Japanese artist Hiro Yamagata to enshrine some of his artwork into NFTs.”

Mr. Yamagata has…

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