The Wall Street giant will offer options and futures trading in Ether, the coin that fuels the Ethereum network.

Matthew McDermott, who took charge of Goldman Sachs’ (NYSE: GS) digital currency unit last year, told Bloomberg that the bank plans to offer ether to its digitally inclined clients in the coming months. Goldman restarted its crypto desk this year for bitcoin linked futures trading. (Mint)

Goldman Sachs: Recent plunge in bitcoin a cleansing exercise

“We’ve actually seen a lot of interest from clients who are eager to trade as they find these levels as a slightly more palatable entry point,” McDermott said on the phone on Thursday. “We see it as a cleansing exercise to reduce some of the leverage and the excess in the system, especially from a retail perspective.”

Matthew also is confident about the long-term viability of cryptos as an asset class. Clients have expressed steady interest in cryptos, and he feels it is unlikely to pass off as a fad.

Institutional clients are also jumping on board the cryptos boat, with one in 10 already trading them, while a fifth are interested.

“Institutional adoption will continue,” McDermott said. “Despite the material price correction, we continue to see a significant amount of interest in this space.”

Bitcoin has fallen rather significantly from the high of $63,000 it touched in April to a low of around $33,000 in early June. It is currently trading slightly above $40,200.

Hedge funds could pile into cryptos

Meanwhile, a survey by Intertrust of 100 hedge fund chief financial officers globally ascertained that they could hold an average of 7.2% of their assets in cryptocurrencies in five years. (FT)

Based on a Preqin forecast of the hedge fund industry’s total size, that equates to about $312 billion held in cryptos.

Related Story:  Behold, The Dawn Of A New Asset Class – Goldman Sachs On Bitcoin

BTC chart: CNBC