Goldman Sachs CEO talks bitcoin and cryptocurrency during earnings call

Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon touched on the importance of bitcoin and cryptocurrency during the bank's earnings call Wednesday morning, indicating how central the market has become for Wall Street's top banks. 

"I also want to touch on the topics of cryptocurrency blockchain and the digitization of money," he began, saying:

"Central banks are looking at digital currencies, working to apply this technology to the local markets and determine the longer term impact on global payment systems. Also significant focus on cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, where the trajectory is less clear as market participants evaluate their possibility as a store of value."

Goldman Sachs recently made headlines for suggesting it would offer clients of its private wealth division access to bitcoin-related products. 

"We continue to look for ways to expand our capabilities to support our clients needs," Solomon said, according to a transcript obtained by The Block.

Still, Solomon said that while the bank can't trade bitcoin on a principal basis, cryptocurrencies are "important to the future of global financial systems."

As for Goldman's plans in the retail crypto market, it doesn't look like the bank is going to be operating in that space anytime soon, according to Solomon. 

"At the moment we are not focused on offering a crypto wallet," he said responding to a question about how Goldman's Marcus brand could capitalize on the current activity around bitcoin. "With respect to crypto payment systems ... we've been much more focused on the institutional side," Solomon went on to say.

Correction: An earlier version of this report incorrectly attributed comments about bitcoin and gold to Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon. The quote has been removed from this report. 

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