CNBC reported it had exclusive access to an employee memo announcing the move.

An internal memo at Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) issued Thursday announced that its all-new crypto trading team had successfully traded certain bitcoin derivatives. According to CNBC, which saw the memo issued by Goldman partner Rajesh Venkataramani, the team is a part of the bank’s global currencies and emerging markets trading division and reports to him, though it is also a constituent of the digital assets unit led by Mathew McDermott.

With this development, Goldman’s crypto trading plans have become official, though Reuters did report in March that the firm had reactivated its crypto trading team.

Goldman Sachs on demand for a crypto product

Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported Thursday that Goldman Sachs had started offering to clients last month a bitcoin product using non-deliverable forwards – a derivative tied to bitcoin’s price that pays out in cash. No formal announcement was made but the firm was said to have engaged Cumberland DRW as its trading partner for this purpose.

Max Minton, Goldman’s Asia-Pacific head of digital assets, told Bloomberg: “Institutional demand continues to grow significantly in this space, and being able to work with partners like Cumberland will help us expand our capabilities.”

The memo, as reproduced by CNBC, is here:

May 6, 2021

Formation of Cryptocurrency Trading Team

I am pleased to announce the formation of the firm’s cryptocurrency trading team, which will be our centralized desk for managing cryptocurrency risk for our clients. The Crypto trading team will be a part of Global Currencies and Emerging Markets (GCEM), reporting to me, within the firm’s Digital Assets effort led by Mathew McDermott.

As part of our initial launch, we have successfully executed Bitcoin (BTC) NDFs and CME BTC future trades on a principal basis, all cash settling. Looking ahead, as we continue to broaden our market presence, albeit in a measured way, we are selectively onboarding new liquidity providers to help us in expanding our offering.

In addition, yesterday we launched our Digital Assets dashboard which provides daily and intraday cryptocurrency market data and news to our clients. We invite you to highlight the dashboard to your clients. For more information on trade approval and onboarding, contact the Digital Assets team.

Please note, the firm is not in a position to trade bitcoin, or any cryptocurrency (including Ethereum) on a physical basis.

Rajesh Venkataramani

Related Story:   Goldman Sachs Private Wealth Management To Offer Cryptos