Goldman Sachs is expanding its digital asset team, signaling intentions to move “further than ever before” into crypto business, as big tech companies like Facebook enter financial services.
The New York banking and advisory giant is hiring a project manager to lead its digital asset team to define the scope and direction of the business and “develop comprehensive road maps for distributed ledger technology,” according to a job posting on its website.
The digital asset team is part of the bank’s incubator Accelerate, intended to drive innovation and growth across divisions. The new executive will work on “unprecedented projects” both at Goldman and more broadly in the financial services industry. “We’re evolving, and we’re looking for some of the most talented individuals in the world to help us go further than ever before,” according to the post.
- Chief Executive Officer David Solomon last month said the firm explored creating a digital coin and is conducting “extensive research” on tokenization, according to Bloomberg.
- The firm may follow rival JPMorgan Chase, which in February unveiled the JPMCoin, a digital token that will be used to simplify payments between corporate clients.
- Meanwhile, Facebook last month announced the launch of its cryptocurrency dubbed Libra, backed by tech companies like Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, eBay, Lyft and Uber.
- Goldman executives have denied speculation raised that it may set up a cryptocurrency trading desk. The bank is currently trading derivatives but volumes have been “relatively muted,” crypto news site The Block reported, citing a Goldman spokesperson. The site was first to report the project manager job announcement.
- Karma Takeaway: Goldman Sachs has long been a trendsetter on Wall Street, so as it ventures into digital assets, further innovation in financial services will likely be sparked among competitors.
