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
CVS Health Explores Potential Breakup Amid Investor Pressure: Report
Oct 3, 2024 by
CPI
DirecTV Acquires Dish TV, Creating 20 Million-Subscriber Powerhouse
Oct 3, 2024 by
CPI
South Korea Fines Kakao Mobility $54.8 Million for Anti-Competitive Practices
Oct 3, 2024 by
CPI
Google Offers Settlement in India’s Antitrust Case Regarding Smart TVs
Oct 3, 2024 by
CPI
Attorney Challenges NCAA’s $2.78 Billion Settlement in Landmark Antitrust Cases
Oct 3, 2024 by
nhoch@pymnts.com
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Refusal to Deal
Sep 27, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust’s Refusal-to-Deal Doctrine: The Emperor Has No Clothes
Sep 27, 2024 by
Erik Hovenkamp
Why All Antitrust Claims are Refusal to Deal Claims and What that Means for Policy
Sep 27, 2024 by
Ramsi Woodcock
The Aspen Misadventure
Sep 27, 2024 by
Roger Blair & Holly P. Stidham
Refusal to Deal in Antitrust Law: Evolving Jurisprudence and Business Justifications in the Align Technology Case
Sep 27, 2024 by
Timothy Hsieh