Goldman Sachs Exploring Offering BTC to Wealthy Clients

The bank’s newly appointed head of digital assets, Mary Rich, revealed that Goldman was exploring ways to offer “thoughtful and appropriate” access to cryptocurrencies. She explained it was still unclear what kind of products they will offer, adding that it could be physical bitcoin, derivatives, or traditional investment vehicles.

According to Bloomberg, Goldman plans to begin offering investments in digital assets in Q2 2021. In an internal memo to staff announcing her appointment, Goldman said that Rich will leverage the bank’s capabilities to ensure their clients’ interests are met.

“There’s a contingent of clients who are looking to this asset as a hedge against inflation, and the macro backdrop over the past year has certainly played into that,” she told CNBC. “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’s private wealth management unit targets clients with at least $25 million to invest, which means that it could turn to bitcoin funds instead of physical bitcoin. Rich said the funds they’re looking at would be more akin to physical bitcoin than other cryptocurrency funds, such as the Galaxy Bitcoin Fund. The bank will be following in the footsteps of Morgan Stanley, which is set to provide its clients with access to three funds that “enable ownership of bitcoin” next month.