Global investment bank Goldman Sachs sees tremendous institutional demand for Bitcoin with no signs of deterioration. A survey of Goldman’s institutional clients shows that 61% expect to increase their holdings of cryptocurrencies. Meanwhile, 76% say the price of Bitcoin could hit $ 100,000 this year.
Goldman Sachs sees no signs of institutional demand for bitcoin easing
In a podcast published on Friday, Mathew McDermott, Head of Digital Assets at Goldman Sachs’ Global Markets Division, discusses the trading environment for cryptocurrencies for institutional investors.
He stated that his team conducted a cryptocurrency survey of the company’s institutional customer base, from “hedge funds to asset managers, macro funds, banks to treasurers, insurance companies and pension funds.” He made it clear that “all of our institutional customer discussions are really focused on Bitcoin”.
His team received responses from 280 institutional clients and released the survey results this week. “What was particularly interesting,” said McDermott, was that “40% of customers are currently exposed to cryptocurrencies,” which he said could be in any form, from “physical to derivatives, to securities products and other offerings in the US “market.” The executive revealed:
In terms of institutional demand, we haven’t seen any signs of subsiding. We see enormous institutional demand. [and] We see this also in the area of private asset management.
He went on to describe that “corporate treasurers, for example, are interested in two different aspects”. The first is whether they should “invest in Bitcoin on their balance sheet,” explained McDermott, citing that “the main drivers in their view are negative interest rates … [and] just the general fears about asset depreciation. “
Additionally, he said that they also think, “Should we think of it as a payment mechanism? … Especially in connection with Tesla’s announcement. “Elon Musk’s electric car company, Telsa, announced that it invested $ 1.5 billion in Bitcoin in January and will soon be accepting cryptocurrency as a means of payment for its products.
Of the institutional customers with crypto exposure, the survey shows that 41% own physical or spot crypto. McDermott emphasized:
61% of customers expect their digital asset inventories to grow over the next year.
What prevents the institutes from investing in cryptocurrencies, 34% of the respondents are of the opinion that “regulation, internal investments, mandate authorizations” are the biggest hurdles for the allocation to crypto assets. 24% believe that a lack of well-regulated, investable crypto assets is the biggest hurdle.
Most Goldman customers expect Bitcoin price to hit $ 100,000 this year
Regarding the future prospects of cryptocurrencies, 54% of respondents forecast the price of BTC will be between $ 40,000 and $ 100,000 in 12 months, while 22% predict it will be more than $ 100,000. That price level isn’t far-fetched as several fund managers are predicting the same thing, including Skybridge Capital and Mike Novogratz.
“In terms of price developments, I think it’s very difficult to predict Bitcoin. It’s not an easy pastime, “said McDermott, explaining:
The survey was very insightful in that 76% agreed that the price would be between $ 40,000 and $ 100,000 by the end of the year. However, 22% predicted above $ 100,000.
“I recently took a similar survey at a private round table and the results there were in line with 33% who forecast over $ 80,000 by the end of the year,” the Goldman executive said.
The global investment bank recently restarted its Bitcoin trading desk. McDermott confirmed that the desk will begin processing Bitcoin futures and undeliverable futures for customers. Jeff Currie, Goldman’s global director of commodities research, recently said that the Bitcoin market “is gradually maturing” and called the cryptocurrency “a hedge against retail inflation”.
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