Goldman Sachs to Roll Out OTC Ether Options Trading

After years of bashing the cryptocurrency industry, the Wall Street behemoth has started numerous such initiatives in the past several months. The latest, reported by Bloomberg, reveals the bank’s intentions to roll out OTC ETH options trading due to enhanced client demand.

• Citing Andrei Kazantsev, Goldman’s head of crypto trading, the coverage informed that the cash-settled ETH options feature is “in due course.”
• The executive revealed that the bank’s institutional clients had shown a growing interest in the digital asset industry. George Lewin-Smith, operating on Goldman’s digital-asset team, asserted that ether has become “more of an investable asset class,” according to customers.
• As such, Goldman decided to foray by introducing options trading, with BTC being the first example last month, as CryptoPotato reported.
• The OTC bitcoin options trading became possible after Goldman partnered with Galaxy Digital. However, Bloomberg’s report doesn’t specify if this will be the case with the OTC ETH options.
• The bank’s executive also indicated that the upcoming Merge – an event that will see Ethereum’s blockchain transition from proof of work to proof of stake – has also contributed to the growing customer demand.
• Last year, Goldman outlined bullish price projections for the second-largest digital asset, saying it could tap $8,000 by its end.
• It’s worth noting that Goldman was among the most vocal crypto critics up until recently but is among the many Wall Street giants that have changed their stance.