Goldman Sachs just announced it will begin using its own money to trade Bitcoin futures contracts on behalf of its big institutional clients. Hopefully, this forward-thinking gesture will lend legitimacy to virtual currencies. The added bonus is, Goldman Sachs will no-doubt work hard to get regulatory approval to buy and sell actual Bitcoins.
Other institutions have been waiting for someone to lead the way and I’m glad Goldman Sachs took on that challenge but realistically, they didn’t have a choice because the largest bitcoin broker, Coinbase reported their revenue exceeded $1 billion last year, most of it came from trading fees. So Goldman could sit on the sideline watching the other kids eat their lunch or they can put on their big-boy-pants and get into the game. It’s good they chose the latter.
The news article went on to say Goldman have to find a way to “confidently” hold Bitcoin for customers without its being stolen by hackers, as has happened by many bitcoin exchanges.
That last statement made me wonder, “Doesn’t the insurer for Goldman Sachs cover that?” So I looked it up and some insurance companies do offer insurance protection against cryptocurrency theft.