Goldman Sachs is looking to buy cryptocurrency companies as the sector reels from FTX’s collapse
The fall of that crypto exchange last month has underlined the need for more trusted players in the industry and has given big banks a chance to find new business, Mathew McDermott, Goldman’s head of digital assets, told Reuters in an interview published Tuesday (Dec. 6).
“We do see some really interesting opportunities, priced much more sensibly,” he said. McDermott told the news outlet his bank was doing due diligence on several crypto companies it wanted to purchase or invest in, without offering further details.
FTX sought Chapter 11 protection last month following a collapse that has continued to spiral outward, opening up regulatory investigations and leading other companies to bankruptcy or to hold off on going public.
“It’s definitely set the market back in terms of sentiment, there’s absolutely no doubt of that,” McDermott said. “FTX was a poster child in many parts of the ecosystem. But to reiterate, the underlying technology continues to perform.”
Read more: Goldman Sachs & Commerzbank Take New Steps Towards Crypto
PYMNTS argued as much last week in our look at the future of cryptocurrency as a payment method in the aftermath of FTX’s downfall.
“It bears repeating that FTX is not, by any means, a direct stand-in for crypto, and it is unfair to paint the entire industry with the scarlet letter of the exchange’s failure,” we wrote.
“Despite the echo chamber of negative headlines surrounding crypto, the Web3-grounded currency solution is still viewed as an important and emergent, bleeding-edge space — particularly within commerce.”
And experts we’ve spoken with have argued that the problems at FTX had more to do with a lack of oversight at the company and financial wrongdoing.
“In this case, it wasn’t a crypto failure. It was a very old-fashioned fraud… The exchange failed due to stealing and lying. And we already have laws against that,” Hanna Halaburda, associate professor at NYU Stern School of Business, said in an interview with PYMNTS last month.
Featured News
UK Probes Lindab’s Acquisition of HAS-Vent Amid Fears of Market Monopoly
Apr 28, 2024 by
CPI
Shein Faces EU Regulations Over User Data
Apr 28, 2024 by
CPI
Google Fights Back Against US Antitrust Lawsuit
Apr 28, 2024 by
CPI
US Homeland Security Establishes Blue-Ribbon Board with Tech CEOs to Advise on AI
Apr 28, 2024 by
CPI
FTC Accuses Amazon Executives of Using Disappearing Messaging Apps to Conceal Evidence
Apr 28, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Economics of Criminal Antitrust
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
Navigating Economic Expert Work in Criminal Antitrust Litigation
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
The Increased Importance of Economics in Cartel Cases
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
A Law and Economics Analysis of the Antitrust Treatment of Physician Collective Price Agreements
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
Information Exchange In Criminal Antitrust Cases: How Economic Testimony Can Tip The Scales
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI