“It is ‘Too arrogant’ to argue that Crypto will not work because they are ‘unknown'”, Goldman Sachs CEO
Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs, ratified his acceptance of cryptocurrencies in an interview with Bloomberg at the Economic Club of New York, on June 19. Referring to the evolution of money, Blankfein mentioned the common characteristics between paper money and crypto, implying both have no intrinsic value. Since paper money has become the main form of money, Blankfein rhetorically asked,
“Why could YOU not have a consensus currency?”
Quoting Blankfein,
it is “too arrogant” to say that cryptocurrencies can’t be adopted on a large scale because they are “unknown” or “uncomfortable””.
Back in 2017, Blankfein made a similar comment, arguing that people first mistrusted paper money before it was accepted. Then he hinted that Bitcoin could be accepted as a medium of value exchange in the future, regardless of whether it is accepted massively today.
“But there is a lot of things that there weren’t for me in the past that have worked out very well. If it was 20 years forward and it worked out, I could tell you why it worked out. But based on everything that I know, I am not guessing that it will work out.”
Goldman Sachs as a group is known for its skeptical stance on cryptocurrency. In 2014, the company expressed that Bitcoin is not a currency. However, in 2017, they acknowledged that it has become more difficult for institutional investors to ignore Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. By the end of 2017, it was rumored that the company was going to open its own cryptocurrency trading desk.
Despite refuting the reports in early 2018, Goldman Sachs has finally accepted cryptocurrency, stating that Bitcoin “is not a fraud” and revealing their plans to buy and sell
cryptocurrencies. In May, the Circle application backed by Goldman Sachs launched a new feature that makes it easier for “novices” to enter the cryptocurrency market.
by Emanuel Andrade
