At press time, bitcoin is still over $4,000, though it appears Wall Street has lost all hope in the crypto asset. Though many players have tried earnestly to build honest businesses from the bitcoin mania, the hype has suddenly died down, and crypto-based ventures now seem to be the last things on Wall Street’s mind.
Goldman Sachs, for instance, released plans early this year to construct a bitcoin trading desk from the ground up. Some analysts say that this was an unrealistic goal, and that Goldman Sachs merely got lost in the crypto craze.
Bitcoin’s Fall Is Detracting Top Financiers
Daniel H. Gallancy – chief executive officer of the New York-based SolidX Partners – states:
“The market had unrealistic expectations that Goldman or any of its peers could suddenly start a bitcoin trading business. That was top-of-the-market hype thinking.”
At press time, Goldman Sachs has yet to offer any cryptocurrency trading services to its clients. Its product also attracted very little attention, with only 20 customers allegedly signing up to take part in the desk’s abilities. Justin Schmidt, who leads the company’s digital asset division, says that lawmakers are limiting what the company can do in the space for now.
Goldman Sachs isn’t the only venture falling behind in its crypto developments. Morgan Stanley has also been positioned to start tracking bitcoin futures since September, though at the time of writing, the company has yet to trade a single contract. An anonymous source allegedly familiar with the company’s operations claims there is very little demand for bitcoin futures trading amongst Morgan Stanley’s customers.
At first glance, the ecosystem appears negative, though some analysts claim institutional players are waiting for the right moment(s) to jump back in. Ben Sebley – a former Credit Suisse Group AG trader that now heads brokerage at the crypto boutique NKB Group – states:
“The more important story is all the infrastructure that’s being built now [in the crypto space] to enable institutional trading.”
Things Are Secretly Getting Better
Similar sentiment is offered by Eugene Ng, a former Deutsche Bank AG trader in Singapore. Now an executive with the crypto hedge fund Circuit Capital, Ng claims:
“It appears as if progress is coming to a halt, yet nothing could be further from the truth. The bear market is going to allow many of these institutions to build the proper foundations without rushing to build-out infrastructure without adequate testing for fear of missing out on a gold rush.”
Do you believe that institutional players still have potential interest in crypto? Post your comments below.
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