Goldman Sachs Announces Major OTC Crypto Trade With Galaxy Digital

To further move into the developing digital assets derivatives market, the American multinational investment bank, Goldman Sachs Group announced its first over-the-counter (OTC) crypto options trade with the crypto merchant bank, Galaxy Digital.

According to the announcement, the bank traded a bitcoin-linked instrument called a non-deliverable option with Galaxy Digital.

As for Goldman Sachs delving into options trade, Galaxy co-president Damien Vanderwilt described it as a way for banks to expose their clients to the crypto market and also meet the high demand for options tied to digital assets.

“This trade represents the first step that banks have taken to offer direct, customizable exposures to the crypto market on behalf of their clients,” he said

Vanderbilt also explained that institutional investors like hedge funds that have been seeking derivative exposure to bitcoin but are hesitant due to the risks involved in OTC trades will most likely hop into the space.

The change is due to the reason that a top player in global markets for traditional assets like Goldman Sachs is taking on greater risk by acting as a principal in its newly launched OTC trade.

Concerning the latest step Goldman Sachs took, the company’s Asia Pacific head of digital assets, Max Minton said,

“We are pleased to have executed our first cash-settled cryptocurrency options trade with Galaxy… This is an important development in our digital assets capabilities and for the broader evolution of the asset class.”

With the latest deal, Goldman Sachs might likely announce that it is the first major U.S. bank to trade an over-the-counter crypto transaction with plans to go into the development of options markets.

Goldman Sachs and its Crypto Movements

In 2018, the bank launched a bitcoin trading desk but closed it down after the cryptocurrency industry went into a bear market year. However, last year, Goldman Sachs reopened its bitcoin trading desk along with an announcement to explore the potential for a bitcoin exchange-traded fund.

That same month, the bank revealed that it will offer bitcoin investment vehicles to clients in its private wealth management unit.

The cryptocurrency investments will come in different investment vehicles like the physical bitcoin, derivatives, or traditional investment vehicles to offer the best services to its wealthy clients.