Wall Street Expected to Dominate Cryptocurrency Trading

A New Era for Wall Street

Cryptocurrency continues to gain mainstream acceptance as many investors look to go digital. Interest among Wall Street power brokers appears to be gaining momentum after Goldman Sachs made known its intention to open a bitcoin trading section.

Similarly, the New York Stock Exchange’s parent company, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), is thought to be working on a bitcoin trading platform of its own. The Wall Street Journal revealed that ICE had discussions with some financial companies regarding the project, which is still under development. While ICE is believed to be working on adopting cryptocurrency, there’s still no further information concerning the project yet.

Of these companies, Goldman Sachs seems to be the most serious about getting involved with cryptocurrency. The American multinational investment bank and financial services company is also considering offering a Bitcoin Futures.

If it ends up doing so, the New York-based organization will join the likes of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), which are already providing Bitcoin Futures contracts to their customers as one of the few firms to allow exposure to the price of cryptocurrencies without owning them.

It may seem too soon to talk about the Wall Street allowing investors to invest in cryptocurrency, but the move by the likes Goldman Sachs and Intercontinental Exchange represents a significant shift from a sector that was once very unwelcoming to digital currencies. Indeed, their involvement may yet prove to be a game changer.

Facebook confirms it will launch a cryptocurrency called Libra in 2020

After months of rumors, Facebook has finally announced its new cryptocurrency. Facebook has revealed all in a post on the Facebook Newsroom. However, while it has started sharing details, the social network points out that the finer points could change.

The cryptocurrency is called Libra, which Facebook describes as “a new global currency powered by blockchain technology”. Libra will be stored in a digital wallet called Calibra, which will be “available in Messenger, WhatsApp and as a standalone app”.

Libra would allow you to send money to “almost anyone with a smartphone” quickly and at “low to no cost”. Over time, Facebook hopes you’ll be able to use Libra to pay for other products and services, just as you would with Google Pay and Apple Pay.

FaceBook’s New Crypto Currency

Wall Street’s Anticipated Domestication

Newsbtc.com reports that UK’s Barclay’s Plc had revealed its plans to embrace cryptocurrency per clients’ demands. Several other firms within the financial services sector are also said to be pondering similar moves. The Newsbtc piece suggests that investment banks are open to the possibilities of trading cryptocurrency, provided it enables them to meet customers’ needs.

Beyond broking, custody, and everything in-between, Matt Levine, a former investment banker with Goldman Sachs maintains that banks must consider it a necessity to trade cryptocurrencies, so long as clients expect to be rendered such services.

The emergence of the Bitcoin futures contracts is believed to have made the market more accessible to money managers. Levine reckons banks may one day domesticate cryptocurrency if clients demand is high enough.

It may take some time before Wall Street finally dominates cryptocurrency trading. However, the perception shifts in the financial services industry suggest that day may not be very far away after all.