"We are working closely with various teams throughout the company to explore thoughtful and appropriate access to the ecosystem for private wealth customers, which we hope to provide in the near future," Mary rich, who was recently appointed as the global head of digital assets, a private wealth management subsidiary, said in an interview.

Most Wall Street banks have so far not been involved in cryptocurrency. Although bitcoin has a history of more than 11 years, there are few things that can be purchased through bitcoin, and volatility is a major risk. Three years ago, Goldman hired an cryptocurrency trader to help lead its digital asset markets business with the goal of familiarizing its people and customers with cryptocurrency, but the company recently played down the idea of bitcoin as an asset class.

In the past few months, the rise of bitcoin has attracted rich investors' interest in a new way. During the crazy rise of bitcoin in 2017, wealthy investors largely stayed on the sidelines. Many people equate cryptocurrency with tulip mania. Warren Buffett called bitcoin "mirage," while Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan's chief executive, called it "fraud" (though he later regretted it).

This time, these wealthy investors began to join a large number of retail investors. As of mid March, retail investors had bought more than 187000 bitcoins this quarter, up from about 205000 last quarter, according to data compiled by JPMorgan. During this period, institutions purchased about 173000 bitcoins, down from nearly 307000 in the last three months of 2020.

Big banks are also promoting that customers can use bitcoin to diversify their investments. JPMorgan strategists recently touted cryptocurrency as a way to hedge against major volatility in traditional assets.

In a memo to employees announcing rich's appointment on Wednesday, Goldman said rich "will leverage the company's capabilities to ensure that we can best meet customers' interests in digital asset classes and technologies.". "As a company, we believe in the possibility of blockchain technology, so we have to continue."

Rich said Goldman plans to start investing in digital assets in the second quarter and is considering eventually offering a "full range" of such investments, "whether through physical bitcoin, derivatives or traditional investment vehicles.".

(2021-4-1)