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In December, quoting Bloomberg and Fortune, we had reported that Goldman Sachs is forming a team to start a crypto currency trading desk . The reports were denied by Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs, in an interview with CNBC.
Goldman Sachs, however, revealed that the New York bank owns a stake in a crypto trading desk, named Circle Trade, since 2015.
In 2015, the principal investment strategy group of Goldman Sachs participated in a $50 million funding round with Bitcoin-startup company Circle Internet Financial. The principal investment strategy group specifically invests in technology companies.
Bitcoin (BTC) was trading at around $225.59, when the deal was closed on April 29, 2015. As of writing this, Bitcoin was trading at about $10,050, representing a 4,400% rise from the time Goldman Sachs invested in the Bitcoin-startup company.
Circle operates two businesses: Circle Pay and Circle Trade. Circle Pay offers fiat money sending services, in addition to a social messaging facility. Circle Trade is a liquidity provider of crypto currencies. The company also plans to establish Circle Invest in 2018. It will facilitate retail traders to easily invest in crypto markets.
Goldman Sachs had recently admitted that Bitcoin may substitute real money in some African countries.
