TL;DR Breakdown
- Goldman Sachs is reported to be seeking a relationship with the Bahamian crypto exchange, FTX.
- The CEOs of the two companies met in March in the Caribbeans according to the Financial Times.
- Goldman Sachs remains committed to exploring the crypto industry.
Goldman Sachs, one of the Wall Street banking giants, is apparently seeking a partnership with a crypto trading platform, FTX. This development was made public via a news post by Financial Times this morning. Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon is said to have met with crypto billionaire and founder of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried last month in the Caribbeans.
According to Financial Times, the two business heads discussed a variety of topics, including Goldman Sachs serving as an advising consultant to the crypto exchange on future investment rounds. It is common knowledge that FTX had recently conducted a funding round in January which raised $400 million dollars taking the company’s worth to $32 billion dollars.
The possibility of the crypto trading business launching its initial public offering (IPO) with the participation of the American Bank in the process was also mentioned. Following the successful investment round in January, Sam Bankman-Fried discussed the probability of FTX going public. He stated that the firm would make that step if it was deemed appropriate at the moment, but he also mentioned the prospect of there never being an IPO.
Furthermore, at the meeting in March, David Solomon proposed a Goldman Sachs offer to assist FTX in discussions with US regulatory bodies. Financial Times also stated the two organizations’ top executives further discussed a possible alliance on market making in crypto trading. However, since the breaking of this news, there have been no official comments on the said meeting by the two firms.
This meeting marks the latest reported effort of Goldman Sachs in the cryptocurrency market
Following the major boost in the adoption of cryptocurrencies over the last few years, many traditional major banks across the world have sought to carve a piece of the $2 trillion industry. So far in the U.S, Goldman Sachs has been one of the major investment banks with rapidly rising interest and participation in the cryptocurrency space. In 2020, the banking establishment was picked to lead the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of the crypto exchange giant, Coinbase
Moreover, according to a report in August 2021 by blockchain research firm, Blockdata, Goldman Sachs has invested $204 million in six crypto businesses via funding rounds including the crypto data transparency company, Coin Metrics.
Most recently, the investment bank became the first in America to offer over-the-counter (OTC) trading options for Bitcoin. And amidst growing interest in the Ethereum network among its clientele, the bank stated intentions to implement the same system for the second most valuable cryptocurrency. This recent meeting with the FTX CEO only emphasizes the intentions of Goldman Sachs to increase its involvement in the crypto space.
