Goldman Sachs is considering a plan to offer custody for crypto funds, according to people with knowledge of the matter speaking to Bloomberg. The deliberations are ongoing and no timeline has been set for when the firm will roll out the services, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information isn’t public. A formal offering from an institution like Goldman Sachs would provide a credible backing for crypto funds and could pave the way for more investors to bet on the asset class. Having a custody operation in place could also lead to other ventures, including prime-brokerage services, the people said.
The investment bank has so far been taking baby steps around cryptocurrencies and hasn’t yet set up a full-fledged desk to trade the currencies since hiring Justin Schmidt earlier this year as head of its digital asset markets. It was among the first Wall Street firms to clear Bitcoin futures offered by Cboe Global Markets and CME Group. In May, Nomura joined other firms to create a custody consortium called Komainu. And at least three giant Wall Street custodians – BNY Mellon, J.P. Morgan and Northern Trust – are working on crypto-custody services or exploring it, people briefed on their efforts said.