Goldman becomes the first major US bank to deal with crypto options. Galaxy Digital will help Goldman execute all of its trades in the market.
US banking giants are now making a move in crypto options trading. Banking giant Goldman Sachs becomes the first major US bank to make an over-the-counter (OTC) crypto options trade in partnership with Galaxy Digital.
OTC Crypto Offering by Goldman Sachs
This marks the first of such big trades in the crypto derivatives space by any US banking giant. Thus, it will further open up doors for institutional participation in the crypto space. Galaxy Digital co-President Damien Vanderwilt said that Goldman’s participation means that it could bring greater maturity to the crypto asset class and for institutional players such as hedge funds. He further added:
“This trade represents the first step that banks have taken to offer direct, customizable exposures to the crypto market on behalf of their clients”. The options trades are “much more systematically relevant to markets compared to cleared futures or other exchange-based products. At a high level, that’s because of the implications of the risk banks are taking on; they’re implying their trust in crypto’s maturity to date.
Demand for Bitcoin and Crypto Derivatives
Hedge funds have been seeking exposure to crypto derivative products recently. However, there have been very players offering crypto derivative instruments and some of them include Galaxy, Genesis and GSR Markets. Max Minton, Goldman’s Asia Pacific head of digital assets, said:
“We are pleased to have executed our first cash-settled cryptocurrency options trade with Galaxy. This is an important development in our digital assets capabilities and for the broader evolution of the asset class.”
Galaxy Digital has been rapidly expanding its product suite in the crypto space. It helps institutional clients by offering diverse liquidity across multiple centralized exchanges and OTC markets. Besides, it has also formed strong ties with spot and futures exchanges, crypto custodians, and fiat banking partners. Thus, it holds strong capability in moving capital and assets securely and effectively.
Galaxy Digital’s crypto trading platform offers liquidity to more than 100 digital assets. It does this by putting a strong focus on the need of its counterparties in the crypto-assets sector. Galaxy Digital is already working with more than 690 institutional trading counterparties. Besides, it also added 43 new clients during the third quarter of the last year.
next