Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon touched on the importance of bitcoin and cryptocurrency during the bank’s earnings call on Wednesday morning, indicating how central the market has become to Wall Street’s top banks.
“I also want to touch on the topics of cryptocurrency blockchain and the digitization of money,” he began, saying:
“Central banks are looking at digital currencies and working to apply this technology to local markets and to determine the long-term impact on global payment systems. Also a major focus on cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, where the trajectory is less clear because market participants see their potential as a value proposition. “
Goldman Sachs recently made headlines for proposing to give customers of its private wealth division access to bitcoin-related products.
“We continue to look for ways to expand our capabilities to meet our customers’ needs,” Solomon said, according to a transcript obtained by The Block.
Nevertheless, Solomon said that although the bank could not trade primarily with bitcoin, cryptocurrencies are ‘important for the future of global financial systems’.
As for Goldman’s plans in the retail crypto market, it does not look like the bank will be working in space any time soon, according to Solomon.
“At the moment, we are not focused on offering a crypto-wallet,” he said when asked how Goldman’s brand Marcus could capitalize on current bitcoin activity. “Regarding crypto-payment systems … we were much more focused on the institutional side,” Solomon added.
Correction: An earlier version of this report incorrectly attributed comments about bitcoin and gold to Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon. The quote has been removed from this report.
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