Goldman Sachs has backed a $28 million Series A funding round for blockchain infrastructure firm Blockdaemon. The funding was led by Greenspring Associates and included participation from crypto lending firm BlockFi, and crypto-asset broker Voyager Digital Ltd, along with a $5 million investment from Goldman Sachs. Goldman Sachs is an American multinational investment bank with a net worth of $131 billion. The banking giant appears to be paying a significant amount of attention to crypto of late. In May the Goldma led a $15 million investment round in blockchain analytics firm Coin Metrics, and also launched Bitcoin derivatives trading for …

Earlier this week, a Bank of America survey found that American hedge fund managers favor Bitcoin (BTC) over tech, but a Goldman Sachs poll with chief investment officers in Asia tells a different story. Goldman Sach Global Investment Research published a new survey polling 25 chief investment officers from different hedge funds in Asia. The results show that Bitcoin is the least favorite investment class for 35% of the participants. “We held two CIO roundtable sessions earlier this week, which were attended by 25 CIOs from various long-only and hedge funds,” wrote Goldman Sachs strategist Timothy Moe. “Their most favorite …

Jeff Currie, the global head of commodities research at Goldman Sachs, has dismissed comparisons between Bitcoin (BTC) and gold as an inflation hedge, and described BTC as more akin to a “risk-on” asset like copper. Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box Europe on Tuesday, Currie noted that copper and Bitcoin both work as “risk-on assets” for hedging due to their volatility, while describing gold as a more stable “risk-off” hedge: "Digital currencies are not substitutes for gold. If anything, they would be a substitute for copper, they are pro-risk, risk-on assets. They are a substitute for risk-on inflation hedges, not risk-off …

Among the many complications associated with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), a lack of knowledge and understanding of crypto is the biggest obstacle for wider adoption, according to a new survey. The Economist Intelligence Unit, the research and analysis division of the Economist Group, released a new report called “Digimentality 2021.” The study was commissioned by major payment and cryptocurrency platform Crypto.com and contains a consumer survey of 3,053 people conducted from February to March 2021. According to survey results, 51% of respondents said a lack of knowledge is the main barrier to the adoption of open-source cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and …

Major Wall Street bank executives will appear before the United States Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday to discuss the role of their financial institutions in the recovery of the American economy. Democratic lawmakers plan to grill a number of major bank execs, whose firms saw record profits during the COVID-19 pandemic while average Americans struggled to make ends meet. In prepared testimonies posted on Tuesday, CEOs at the Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo described their respective banks' responses to major challenges such as inequality, diversity, climate change, taxes, as well as how their banks handle cryptocurrencies. This year …

Wall Street megabank Goldman Sachs has initiated coverage of United States cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase with a buy rating following a major crash on crypto markets. In a note to clients on Monday, Goldman Sachs analyst Will Nance stated that Coinbase stock is the best way for investors to gain exposure to the crypto industry, CNBC reported. According to the report, shares of crypto companies like Coinbase should be regarded as a hedge against the parabolic volatility of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC). “While we believe the core business today offers an attractive growth profile with the potential to drive new high …

A senior manager at banking giant Goldman Sachs in London has reportedly left the company after making a fortune on meme-based cryptocurrency Dogecoin (DOGE). Aziz McMahon, a former managing director and head of emerging market sales at Goldman Sachs, had resigned from the investment bank allegedly after netting major gains from his DOGE holdings, The Guardian reported on Tuesday. Though reports did not specify exactly how much money McMahon made from his Dogecoin holdings, sources claimed that it was a substantial sum, pointing out that DOGE rallied over 1,000% in value this year. According to sources, the finance veteran was …

One of the largest investment banks in the world just launched a cryptocurrency trading desk — though executives made sure to specify they would only be trading derivatives, and will not have actual digital assets on the books. A CNBC report this morning revealed a internal Goldman Sachs memo announcing the launch of a cryptocurrency trading desk. The desk will be part of Goldman’s Global Currencies and Emerging Markets division, and overseen by Digital Assets head Mathew McDermott. The news comes shortly after a report yesterday that Goldman had begun offering BTC trading to clients via non-deliverable forwards (NDFs), a …

Investment banking giant Goldman Sachs has reportedly opened up futures trading on Bitcoin to Wall Street executives. According to Bloomberg Law, last month the investment firm began offering trading with non-deliverable forwards, a derivative tied to the price of Bitcoin (BTC) — roughly $56,000 at the time of publication — for which investors can be paid in fiat. Goldman Sachs reportedly lessens its risk to the crypto asset’s infamous volatility by buying and selling Bitcoin futures in block trades on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange using the crypto trading unit of DRW Holdings, Cumberland. "Institutional demand continues to grow significantly in …

Blockchain analytics firm Coin Metrics has raised $15 million in a funding found led by financial giant Goldman Sachs. In an announcement today, Coin Metrics said Goldman Sachs, Castle Island Ventures, Highland Capital Partners, Fidelity Investments, Avon Ventures, Communitas Capital, Collab+Currency and others had contributed $15 million to the analytics firm to “accelerate the company’s global expansion” as well as reach more places in the crypto market. Coin Metrics co-founder Nic Carter called the funding a “huge validation” for the firm as a provider of crypto data for institutions. "Data is critical for the mainstream adoption of cryptoassets by traditional …

Wall Street banking giant Goldman Sachs has identified an emerging cluster of crypto-related stocks that are performing much better than the S&P 500 itself. In a note to investors on Tuesday, analysts at the investment bank highlighted 19 United States stocks that had a market capitalization of more than $1 billion and close ties to the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry. Goldman’s investment gurus stated that many of these stocks have “dramatically outperformed” the broader stock market, with the firms averaging a return of 43% this year, which is more than three times the 13% that the S&P 500 has gained …

The European Investment Bank, an international financial institution owned by European Union member states, is reportedly exploring blockchain technology for issuing digital bonds. According to a Tuesday Bloomberg report, the EIB has hired major global banks such as Goldman Sachs, Banco Santander and Société Générale to look at a potential deal involving a euro-denominated bond issued on a blockchain. Citing a person familiar with the matter, Bloomberg states that the EIB is planning to deploy blockchain technology for the registration and settlement of digital bonds. Investor meetings for the inaugural sale will reportedly start on Thursday and continue for several …