The CEO of Goldman Sachs predicts that Bitcoin regulations will see a shift in how other financial institutions are treated. The head of the United States banking giant, David Solomon, spoke with CNBC on how he foresees Bitcoin and digital currencies to emerge as a currency in the future.
Keeping his bank’s movements regarding Bitcoin adoption on the quieter side, he commented that the firm is keeping a watch on where cryptocurrencies are going and how clients might be impacted by the market adoption overall.
“There are significant regulatory restrictions around us and us acting as a principle around cryptocurrencies like #bitcoin,” says $GS CEO David Solomon. “As our clients have demand to be involved in this space we can continue to find ways to support our clients.” pic.twitter.com/plRxHqmbsI
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) April 6, 2021
He offered:
“We continue to think about digital currency and the digitization of money in a very proactive way, and in that context, we are engaged with our clients and we look at all this through the centricity of ‘what do our clients need?”
United States Bitcoin regulations
As it stands, the current regulations in the United States restricts banks from offering exposure to assets like Bitcoin – where the risk is high as a direct reaction to the high volatility. As a result, financial firms like Goldman Sachs can offer clients exposure to Bitcoin but only in the form of custodial assets like securities or exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
It’s worth noting that these regulations are evolving along with the market. Solomon identified this and suggests that the regulations will see a shift in the future. Without speculating on what this might look like, he offered that the banking firm will do what it takes to explore the best solutions for its clients. As he said:
“I think there will be a big evolution. As to how this evolves in the coming years, we operate in the rules we have, I’m not gonna speculate on where the rules will go for regulated financial institutions but we’re gonna continue to find ways to serve our clients as we move forward.”
