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- Institutional interest in Bitcoin differentiates the recent bull run from the retail-driven boom in 2017, Goldman says.
- The Head of Digital Assets has had over 300 conversations with institutional customers about Bitcoin.
- Much of institutional demand has been driven by fears of asset depreciation.
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Institutional interest in Bitcoin, according to Goldman Sachs’ Matt McDermott, distinguishes the recent uptrend from the 2017 retail surge.
Goldman’s global director of digital assets for global markets said on a Goldman podcast that his team had seen “tremendous volume of institutional demand.” [a] wide range of different industry types “for digital assets during the current bull run of Bitcoin.
In 2017, retail investor interest drove the market, McDermott said. Now he has had “well over 300 digital asset conversations” with institutional clients including hedge funds, asset managers, banks, corporate treasurers, insurance companies and pension funds. Most of these conversations focus on Bitcoin and how investors can get involved, McDermott said.
For example, corporate treasurers are interested in including Bitcoin on their balance sheets. McDermott said that question got worse after news that Tesla had invested $ 1.5 billion in the cryptocurrency.
The digital asset chief also said much of institutional demand was driven by “general concerns about asset depreciation”. The crypto fixed offer positions it as a hedge against inflation, say crypto enthusiasts.
Aside from the fact that many institutional clients simply inquire about it, they are very optimistic about Bitcoin. According to a poll Goldman released last week, 22% of its customers expect the price of Bitcoin to hit at least $ 100,000 in the next 12 months. McDermott also said the survey found that 61 percent of customers expect their digital asset inventories to grow over the next year.
Bitcoin was trading just under $ 51,000 on Monday morning.
