Banking Giants Goldman Sachs and Commerzbank Take New Steps Towards Crypto
The American investment bank Goldman Sachs is taking another step toward the crypto industry with a private meeting between its CEO and crypto exchange FTX’s founder & CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. Meanwhile, German bank Commerzbank also appears to be strengthening its crypto offering after it applied for a crypto license earlier this year.
The meeting between Sam Bankman-Fried and Goldman Sachs’ CEO David Solomon reportedly focused on whether Goldman could advise on future funding rounds for FTX, and on a potential public listing of the exchange.
Notably, the Goldman Sachs CEO also offered to advise FTX in discussions with US regulators, including the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which oversees the derivatives market. The offer comes after FTX, in March, filed a proposal to the CFTC that would allow it to sell and settle crypto derivatives directly, without traditional intermediaries like Goldman Sachs.
The news of the meeting between Goldman Sachs’ CEO David Solomon was first reported by the Financial Times on Thursday, citing “people familiar with the matter.”
According to the people, the meeting was held “in the Caribbean.” FTX last year moved its global headquarters from Hong Kong to the Caribbean nation of Bahamas, with Bankman-Fried praising the island nation for its “progressive, forward-looking” crypto regulations.
Meanwhile, German banking giant Commerzbank earlier this year applied for a “crypto custody license” from the country’s financial regulator, BaFin, local news outlet Börsen-Zeitung reported last week.
If Commerzbank can secure the license, it would make it the first bank in the country to take a serious step towards the adoption of digital assets.
According to the report, at least 25 applications
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