Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) clients are not really interested in crypto-assets, according to recent statements from the firm’s Chief Investment Officer.
As reported by the WSJ, even following the considerable surge in prices of Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrencies as well as the involvement from other TradFi firms like BlackRock, Goldman Sachs still argues that crypto is pretty much worthless.
Goldman Sachs, which is currently one of the relatively few traditional banking institutions to take this position, is not stepping away from its overall negative view of crypto, as it does not believe the asset has any meaningful value.
Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani, CIO at the bank’s Wealth Management division, has become fairly well-known for her constant criticism of Bitcoin and various other crypto-assets. Even after the recent crypto bull market, her stance on crypto is still negative, the WSJ reported.
She told the news outlet that they “do not think it is an investment asset class.” She also mentioned that they are “not believers in crypto.”
These statements come after major competitors like BlackRock and Fidelity moved towards extending their ongoing efforts in the crypto space after clients said they were interest in getting exposure to BTC. However, Goldman Sachs’ clients reportedly are not interested in Bitcoin and other digital assets. This, according to statements made recently by Mossavar-Rahmani.
One of the key reasons cited by the banking institutions is that their team sees no value in the digital asset. According to Goldman, there is no way to actually assess/evaluate Bitcoin’s real worth.
She said that if you “cannot assign a value, then how can you be bullish or bearish?”
She is also critical of the crypto sector for allegedly being hypocritical, noting that crypto supporters “all proclaim democratization of finance, yet the main decisions end up being driven by a few controlling people.”
Notably, a relatively large number of Goldman competitors have taken major positions to take part in the crypto sector.
Back in 2020, JPMorgan Chase introduced its own blockchain platform, which now employs more than 100 professionals. And Citigroup Inc. is currently looking into private fund tokenization – which is an initiative that has already been explored by BlackRock and other larger financial institutions.
It’s worth noting that Goldman’s view of crypto is similar to that of the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). These major centralized institutions have consistently been overly critical of the role of Bitcoin and other crypto-assets in shaping the future of finance. Despite negative statements from these financial institutions over the years, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum (ETH) have surged considerably in price and overall adoption globally.
