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Goldman Sachs to invest big on crypto as FSB looks into crypto regulation following FTX fiasco

This move by Goldman Sachs comes at a time when FTX's dramatic collapse has toppled the value of cryptos

Shashank Bhardwaj
Published: Dec 7, 2022 04:55:12 PM IST

Goldman Sachs to invest big on crypto as FSB looks into crypto regulation following FTX fiascoThe Goldman Sachs building in Manhattan, New York City. Image: Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP

After the implosion of FTX, Goldman Sachs, one of the largest investment banks in the world, plans to spend tens of millions on crypto companies whose valuations have gone down, as reported by Reuters.

The crypto market is much less crowded right now battling the effects of the collapse of FTX, and Goldman sees that as an investment opportunity priced sensibly.

Following alarming revelations about its financials and its relationship with Almada Research, FTX filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy on November 11, after it came to light that the CEO of FTX, SBF, allegedly used billions of FTX customer funds to keep his company afloat.

To a market that's already going through a bear run and has faced several high-profile bankruptcies already, the FTX fiasco was downright depressing, with countless people losing all their savings.

"FTX was a poster child in many parts of the ecosystem," said Mathew McDermott, Goldman's head of digital assets. "But to reiterate, the underlying technology continues to perform," he added. "We do see some really interesting opportunities, priced much more sensibly," he further said.

This strange move by Goldman comes at a time when FTX's dramatic collapse has toppled the value of cryptos, following which The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has called for a global framework to supervise and regulate crypto assets. FSB also plans to look into the vulnerabilities of decentralised finance.

On December 6, the board said that it has planned to 'enhance its crypto-assets monitoring network,' which will now include 'DeFi-specific vulnerability indicators.' It will also address the impending impact of DeFi getting closely tied up to traditional financial markets, the board added. FSB said that the 'growing linkage of crypto-asset firms with core financial markets and institutions' means continuously increasing risk to the market from an FTX-like fiasco happening again.

"Crypto trading platforms, combining multiple activities that are normally separated in traditional finance, can lead to concentrations of risk, conflicts of interest, and a misuse of client assets," said the FSB.

This is not the board's first take on the crypto industry. The FSB had previously suggested a comprehensive network for crypto assets to address the potential risks while not shying away from harnessing its potential benefits.

The public can comment on the FSB's recommendations regarding stablecoins till December 15.

The writer is the founder at yMedia. He ventured into crypto in 2013 and is an ETH maximalist. Twitter: @bhardwajshash

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