Mathew McDermott has assumed the role of global head of digital assets for banking giant Goldman Sachs, touting future blockchain predictions. “In the next five to 10 years, you could see a financial system where all assets and liabilities are native to a blockchain, with all transactions natively happening on chain," McDermott told CNBC for an Aug. 6 article. Tweeting out the quote on Aug. 6, Morgan Creek Digital co-founder Anthony Pompliano added: "Wall Street is about to learn why technologists say innovate or die." McDermott's big plans include expansion Taking over for Goldman's previous head of digital assets Justin …

Blockchain infrastructure-as-a-service company Bison Trails announced Aug. 4 that it has appointed a general counsel to focus on policy and regulatory issues specific to blockchain infrastructure. Elizabeth Ralston has previously served in a legal capacity at blockchain investment firm BlockTower Capital and as vice president of Goldman Sachs legal division. Blockchain industry increasingly working with regulators As it has matured, the blockchain industry has placed a greater importance on working with regulators to influence policy as it is being created. Bison Trails clearly believes that Ralston is the woman with the experience to take on this role. As CEO Joe …

USD Coin (USDC), a stablecoin project founded by Coinbase and Circle, has hit a major milestone in market capitalization. On July 3, 2020, USDC market cap broke the $1 billion threshold for the first time since the stablecoin was launched in October 2018. According to data from Coin360, the coin has seen sharp growth since March 2020. USDC, the second-largest USD-pegged stablecoin after Tether (USDT), is ranked the 17th largest cryptocurrency by market cap as of press time. USD Coin all-time chart. Source: Coin360 Announcing the news on Thursday, the Centre Consortium — an organization co-founded by Circle and Coinbase …

When the Goldman Sachs report came out dismissing Bitcoin’s status as an asset class, there was significant backlash from the crypto community. This is understandable, as for those building in crypto, the points against Bitcoin didn’t make sense. For nearly a decade of my career, I was a banker at Goldman, but decided to leave Wall Street to join an incredible group of people at OKCoin, who are on a mission to make crypto trading easy and accessible for everyone around the world. Having been on both sides, I can appreciate why Goldman Sachs analysts made certain arguments in their …

Coming every Sunday, Hodler’s Digest will help you track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link. Top Stories This Week Goldman Sachs butts heads with Bloomberg over Bitcoin One of the world’s biggest investment banks caused a stink this week when it declared cryptocurrencies are not an asset class. In a leaked PowerPoint presentation, Goldman Sachs warned Bitcoin doesn’t provide diversification benefits, dampen volatility in a portfolio or show evidence of hedging inflation. One damning …

While the theater world has Waiting for Godot, the crypto sphere has its own drama: Waiting for the Institutional Investor. Recently, there have been some promising sightings. Grayscale Investments has been buying up Bitcoin (BTC) at a great rate in recent months. Indeed, since the May 11–12 rewards halving event, the fund has been accumulating BTC at a rate equivalent to 150% of all the new Bitcoin mined, Cointelegraph reported on Thursday. The firm now has $3.2 billion in assets under management, or AUM, in its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. Significantly, more than 90% of new inflows are from institutional players, …

Crypto traders aren’t taking advice from Goldman Sachs — with Bitcoin up by more than 8% since the investment bank slammed BTC in an investors call. Bitcoin has increased from the $8,800 mark to $9530, with the $10,000 barrier in sight According to crypto derivatives tracker Skew.com, the price rise has seen approximately $40 million in BitMEX shorts liquidated over the last 36 hours, with trading sitting above the BTC spot price indicating confidence in a longer rally. The 24 hour trading volume has stayed constant over the last week. The rise may be related to recent news from another …

Bitcoin (BTC) supporters have widely panned Goldman Sachs after it emerged that the banking giant does not consider it as a real asset class. Materials from an investor call on May 27 revealed that the United States’ fifth-largest bank is dismissive of the largest cryptocurrency. Goldman wheels out legacy Bitcoin complaints The main reason for the continued lack of attention, Goldman says, is that Bitcoin does not generate revenue flows for holders, for example, in the same way that stocks and bonds do. “We believe that a security whose appreciation is primarily dependent on whether someone else is willing to …

According to a leaked PowerPoint slide, Goldman Sachs, in a May 27 call discussing the U.S. economic outlook, stated that cryptocurrencies are not an asset class. The wording of the slide appears to discourage its clients from investing in the up and coming technology-based asset. This stands in stark contrast to the views of former presidential hopeful, Michael Bloomberg, whose financial reform plan unequivocally called Bitcoin an asset class. Purported Goldman Sachs Slide From May 27 Call. Source: Ryane Browne’s Twitter Account. Bloomberg: Better than gold Michael Bloomberg’s plan openly acknowledged cryptocurrency as a major asset class. It also called …

Goldman Sachs will host a conference call on May 27 titled US Economic Outlook & Implications of Current Policies for Inflation, Gold, and Bitcoin. On May 23, Mike Dundas, the founder of crypto media outlet The Block, posted a screenshot of the invitation for the call, revealing that the event will be hosted by Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani, the CIO of Goldman’s Investment Strategy Group, alongside Harvard economics professor Jason Furman, and Goldman Sachs’ chief economist Jan Hatzius. Goldman Sachs appears to be warming to Bitcoin The news has been heralded as a milestone for the institutional adoption of crypto assets, appearing …

The crypto space and market cap is a small percentage of the trillions invested through the global equities market or the amount that the United States Federal Reserve is able to print. While the promise of blockchain technology and the future of Bitcoin (BTC) has been realized through major traditional players unveiling their own versions of the technology, their hesitant investment advice does not seem to match their actions. Real life application Recently, Cointelegraph reported that wealth manager Adam Pokornicky had claimed he almost lost a client to the opinions of the top financial holding companies in the world. Adam …

JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs are advising their clients against Bitcoin (BTC), according to one American wealth manager. Adam Pokornicky, chief operating officer at Digital Asset Investment Management (DAIM), a U.S.-registered investment advisor for digital assets, claimed that his firm almost lost a client due to the banks’ intervention. In an interview with Cointelegraph, Pokornicky described his client as a lawyer and a “high net worth individual”, adding that they’ve been acquainted for a long time. “He's both a friend and someone I've worked with over the years,” the wealth manager explained. According to Pokornicky, his client was ready to …