Goldman Sachs’ Chief Executive Officer (CEO) reiterated his long-standing position on Bitcoin and claims the asset could disrupt traditional currencies. Speaking in an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box, David Solomon quickly dismissed the idea that Bitcoin could be a threat to the dominance of the US dollar. According to him, Bitcoin is just “an interesting speculative asset.” However, its underlying technology (the blockchain) is under serious consideration for improvement in the financial system.
“I don’t see Bitcoin as a threat to the US dollar. At the end of the day, I’m a big believer in the US dollar… The underlying technology is something we spend a lot of time on. It’s something that we’re utilizing and testing to create less friction in the financial system.”
Despite his position on cryptos, Solomon has always affirmed that the Bank is willing to engage in the asset class if the regulatory environment changes under the current US administration. As we discussed earlier, Solomon believes that Bitcoin functions as a store of value similar to gold. Shedding more light on its involvement in the industry, the CEO disclosed that Goldman Sachs owns a huge position in Bitcoin ETFs. This is confirmed in a November 2024 filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, where the bank was estimated to hold $718 million in eight ETFs. According to reports, this includes a $461 million investment in BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF.
Last year, multiple reports also confirmed the intention of Goldman Sachs to start a new company focused on digital assets. With this, Tradeweb Markets Inc. announced that it had formed a strategic partnership with the bank to launch a digital asset platform.
Goldman Sach CIO’s Strong Position Against Bitcoin
In April 2024, the Chief Investment Officer at the Wealth Management unit of Goldman Sachs, Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani, highlighted that its clients are not interested in Bitcoin. According to her, the bank is not a believer in crypto and they do not think Bitcoin is an investment asset. Speaking about the asset, Sharmin criticized the industry for being hypocritical. Per her observation, the community proclaims the democratization of finance, yet its decisions are driven by a “few controlling people.” Goldman Sachs’ CIO also believes that Bitcoin has no value, making it difficult to evaluate its worth. Apart from Sharmin, a few of the bank executives have similar perceptions. As previously mentioned in our report, an executive of the Bank, Isabella Rosenberg, also finds Bitcoin a distraction in the financial world.
Meanwhile, some of the former executives have always maintained a positive position around the asset. One of them is Real Vision CEO Raoul Pal who usually highlights buying entry for Bitcoin investors. In a 2024 update, we covered Pal’s assertion that the growing demand for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and innovative technologies could propel the growth of digital assets.
Bitwise CIO Disagrees with Goldman Sachs CIO
Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan takes a strong exception to Sharmin’s assertion. According to him, the value of Bitcoin is found in its ability to store wealth outside the traditional financial system. Also, this incredible service could be accessed for free by simply owning Bitcoin. Joining the conversation, Pomp Investments founder Anthony Pompliano criticized Sharmin for her remark on the asset class.
“Sharmin is essentially claiming that she is smarter than everyone else and she is smarter than the market. It is kind of wild to think this, but even more insane to say it out loud to the Wall Street Journal.”
At press time, Bitcoin was trading at $101.7k after declining by 3% in the last 24 hours.