But people on Elite Trader told me Bitcoin was a scam and a bubble.So why are Goldman setting up a trading desk?
Livermore described Wall Street as a 'Giant Whorehouse'. Where the brokers were the Pimps. GS is one of the the biggest pimps.
Goldman will trade anything that moves, vehicles associated with scams and bubbles move a lot. The article specifically points out that Goldman believes it a new asset class that some clients are interested in as a store of value and NOT a viable currency. (@johnarb)
Yes, I'm a proponent of bitcoin as a store of value. The currency aspect is a bonus in my view. I think that fair value for bitcoin as an asset class store of value is to capture ~1 percent of total worldwide assets (Gold is ~3 percent). That would put the valuation of bitcoin at $2.8T with each bitcoin priced at $150K, give or take. No complaints here.
Is your 1% based on any statistical analysis at all ? (besides wishful thinking). Any comparison to gold is totally ill relevant. What you guys don't realize is that when a GS or any hedgie is discussing BTC in a positive light it is from the angle of making money off transactions (either their own trading account or to service institutional clients). They are not buying and holding the asset for appreciation like you. That GS is involved is as meaningless to your hopes as your 1% of assets target.
Bitcoin and alternative currency have underlying systemic problems. In essence, alt-currency has really big title issues. The CFTC does not have budget to do much, but it does not solve the underlying problem. https://broadpeakpartners.com/blog/cftc/
And GS was of course heavily involved in the housing market MBS, CDO's, etc. etc.... Sure, if they have clients who want them to make a market in cryptos I'm sure they want to oblige. I doubt that GS wants to keep sending clients to DRW.