Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Börse Expand Crypto Offerings

A week after Goldman Sachs announced the reopening of its crypto trading services, Deutsche Börse has expanded its own crypto investing options. Last June, Deutsche Börse launched the world’s first centrally-cleared Bitcoin exchange-traded note (ETN) on its Xetra exchange. And now, the bank has added an Ethereum ETN to its Xetra offering. ETNs are debt securities that track the performance of underlying reference indices, such as cryptos

According to a report from Business Insider, Xetra’s regulated centralized clearing has attracted institutional investors looking to reduce risk during transaction settlement. It also removes the need to run a separate crypto wallet, providing investors with the same trading experience as other types of assets do.

Goldman Sachs, on the other hand, has taken up a slightly different approach when it comes to its own cryptocurrency products. The bank has opened institutional investors to Bitcoin futures and non-deliverable forwards, a type of financial contract that allows investors to speculate on Bitcoin’s future price. A report from Forbes revealed that plans are also underway to add a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the future.

This has the potential to attract institutional investors looking to take riskier positions in cryptocurrencies. Goldman Sachs’ recent survey found around 40% of their clients already have exposure to cryptocurrencies. Over 61% of their clients said they expect their cryptocurrency holdings to increase in the next 12-24 months. The Wall Street giant is expected to expand its cryptocurrency offer to bring at least part of that demand in-house.