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Goldman Sachs Clients Not Interested in Crypto, Says Chief Investment Officer: WSJ
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Goldman Sachs remains convinced that cryptocurrencies have no value.
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The chief investment officer of the bank’s Wealth Management unit, Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani, says clients have not shown interest in exposure to the asset class, even after the latest price surge.
Goldman Sachs, now one of the few Wall Street banks to do so, is not backing down from its negative stance on crypto because it sees no value in the asset.
Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani, chief investment officer of the bank’s Wealth Management unit, has long been known for her skepticism of Bitcoin and other digital assets, and her opinion has not changed, according to a recent interview.
“We don’t think it’s an investment asset class,” she told the Wall Street Journal“We don’t believe in cryptocurrencies.”
Even after TradFi competitors such as BlackRock and Fidelity decided earlier this year to double down on their efforts in the crypto sector after clients expressed interest in gaining exposure to bitcoin specifically, Goldman clients are not want nothing to do with it, according to Mossavar-Rahmani.
One of the reasons she sees no value in the asset is that it is not possible to truly assess its value. “If you can’t assign a value, then how can you be bullish or bearish? ” she says.
She even criticized the industry’s hypocrisy, saying that crypto enthusiasts “all proclaim the democratization of finance, but the main decisions end up being made by a few controlling people.”
Unlike Goldman Sachs, many of its competitors have taken steps to participate in the crypto space. JP Morgan Chase, for example, launched its own blockchain platform, which today employs more than 100 people. Meanwhile, Citigroup Inc. is exploring tokenization of private funds.
Updated on 04/02/2024 7:35 p.m. to specify that Mossavar-Rahmani is the CIO of the Wealth Management unit of the bank.