After declaring that Bitcoin (BTC) is not a viable investment, Goldman Sachs is now considering whether it should create its own crypto asset.
During an investor call in May, the investing giant told clients that it does not recommend anyone invest in Bitcoin and said the leading cryptocurrency is not an asset class.
Now, in a new interview with CNBC, Managing-Director Mathew McDermott says the investment firm is exploring the commercial viability of creating its own digital token that would be pegged to fiat currency. The 46-year-old says he envisions a future where the world’s financial assets are based on electronic ledgers, much like how cryptocurrencies work today.
“We are exploring the commercial viability of creating our own fiat digital token, but it’s early days…
In the next five to 10 years, you could see a financial system where all assets and liabilities are native to a blockchain, with all transactions natively happening on-chain. So what you’re doing today in the physical world, you just do digitally, creating huge efficiencies. And that can be debt issuances, securitization, loan origination; essentially you’ll have a digital financial markets ecosystem, the options are pretty vast.”
McDermott is now doubling the size of his team, hiring talent from around Asia and Europe.
He recently recruited Oli Harris, former head of JPMorgan’s Quorum, an Ethereum-based blockchain underpinning the dollar-backed cryptocurrency JPM Coin.