Ethereum in the crosshairs of institutions – It has been more than ten years since Bitcoin, then other cryptocurrencies emerged. For several years, these have been massively denigrated by institutions and banks around the world. A situation that finally seems to be changing.
Goldman Sachs and cryptocurrencies: a rocky history
Goldman Sachs is one of America’s oldest banks. It is at the head of more than 2,100 billion dollars, which it manages on behalf of its clients.
After having long been reluctant to integrate cryptocurrencies into its offer, Goldman Sachs took a first step in 2017 following rumors surrounding the creation of a cryptocurrency exchange platform. This was to be created in response to “growing demand from the bank’s customers”. However, the end of the bullrun at the beginning of 2018 seems to have buried the project.
For several months, the bank seems to have taken a more assumed direction regarding digital assets. Thus, Goldman Sachs now offers a bitcoin sales service “OTC” (Over The Counter), i.e. over-the-counter.
As a reminder, so-called OTC sales refer to sales negotiated privately and involving large sums.
Even more surprisingly, several sources revealed that the bank, along with other American banks, would consider using Bitcoin as collateral for loans made in the United States.
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After Bitcoin, Goldman Sachs goes to Ethereum
The romance between Goldman Sachs and cryptocurrencies is about to take a new turn.
Indeed, during a webinar, Andrei Kazantsev, head of Goldman Sachs’ crypto service, said that it was considering offer an Ethereum option exchange service in OTC.
This new service would emerge in response to the growing interest of its customers for Ethereum.
In practice, the options would take the form of “timely” cash-settled Ether options, he said during the webinar.
This new investor enthusiasm for Ethereum could be a consequence of the imminent arrival of Proof of Stake on the network.
Indeed, Ethereum is expected to transition from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake next June via a mechanism called The Merge.
So far, the various testnets to test The Merge update have generally gone pretty well. A new testnet titled Kiln had been deployed in mid-March. This was to be one of the last update-specific testnets before a rollout to the legacy testnets.
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