For years, Wall Street has been slow to warm up to digital assets. But that’s starting to change, and fast.
This week, a Form D public filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed that Wall Street’s most influential firm Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) has partnered with Mike Novogratz’ Galaxy Digital, a crypto merchant bank offering high networth clients exposure to Ether (ETH).
As per the filing, dated March 8, Goldman was named as a receiver of client introduction fees to Galaxy’s Ethereum Fund, which the investment bank is now recommending as a potential investment product that clients should consider.
“Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC will receive an introduction fee with respect to certain clients introduced to Issuer; CAIS Capital LLC [an independent wealth management business] will receive certain placement fees with respect to clients referred to Issuer, each as disclosed to their applicable clients,” the filing stated.
The filing also shows Goldman accepting a minimum initial investment of $250,000 per client for exposure to the investment product. The report further indicates that the Galaxy’s ETH Fund has made sales totaling more than $50 million.
Coincidentally perhaps, the filing appeared on the commission’s website just two days after Goldman’s former CEO and senior chairman Lloyd Blankfein, tweeted that crypto should have a moment right now, given our economy’s extraordinarily high inflation pressures and that he is “[k]eeping an open mind about [the digital asset].”
Keeping an open mind about crypto, but given the inflating US dollar and the stark reminder that governments can and will under certain circumstances freeze accounts and block payments, wouldn’t you think crypto would be having a moment now? Not seeing it in the price, so far….
— Lloyd Blankfein (@lloydblankfein) March 7, 2022
This is not the first time the New York-based Goldman Sachs and Galaxy Digital have collaborated. In June last year, Goldman started trading Bitcoin (BTC) futures with Galaxy serving as its liquidity provider on CME Group BTC futures. The trades represented the first time that Goldman used a digital assets firm — as of the end of Q4’21 Galaxy Digital had $2.8B assets under management — as a counterparty.
Goldman’s ETH Fund move is a big one for the world of cryptocurrencies, as it brings more legitimacy to the market and could pave the way for institutional players to get involved. It’s also a sign that the cryptocurrency market is maturing and becoming more mainstream.
Price Action
At last check, Bitcoin prices were changing hands at around $39,000, down 0.36% on the day, and ETH was trading at $2,575, down about 0.50%.
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