US banking powerhouse Goldman Sachs has released an RFI to investigate the safekeeping of digital assets, according to a source within the bank.
When asked about the timing, the Goldman source said the bank’s custody plans were “soon apparent”.
Goldman’s RFI for digital asset custody was passed to at least one known crypto custody player towards the end of 2020.
“Like JPMorgan, we issued an RFI on digital custody. We are broadly investigating digital custody and deciding what the next step is, ”said the Goldman source, who asked not to be named. (An RFI on crypto custody was published by JPMorgan in October 2020 reported by The Block.)
The Goldman insider said the bank’s digital assets initiative was “part of a comprehensive digital strategy,” citing stable coins in relation to recent letters from the US Office of the Currency Validator (OCC).
A tectonic shift in the world of crypto custody took place this week when San Francisco-based Anchorage received conditional approval from the OCC to become a national digital bank while “clearly” meeting the definition of a “qualified administrator” .
Anchorage President Diogo Mónica said in an interview that this regulatory approval will invite many large and risk averse institutional players to join crypto.
When asked about JPMorgan, Goldman, and Citi – the three big US banks that most watch for crypto custody – Mónica said, “We’re talking to all of these people.”
There has been talk of Goldman perhaps offering something similar to prime brokerage services with crypto. However, the Goldman insider said the bank is reviewing custody but not prime brokerage.
“Anchorage, BitGo, and Coinbase have pretty big plans for Crypto Prime Brokerage, and we wouldn’t try to duplicate them,” the Goldman source said.