Goldman Sachs: Bitcoin Is Now Considered an Investable Asset, Clients Are Treating BTC as New Asset Class

Global investment bank Goldman Sachs now considers bitcoin an investable asset. “Clients and beyond are largely treating it as a new asset class, which is notable — it’s not often that we get to witness the emergence of a new asset class,” said Goldman Sachs’ analyst.

Goldman Sachs Now Considers Bitcoin an Investable Asset

Goldman Sachs published a research note on cryptocurrency this week stating that bitcoin has become an investable asset, a reverse of its earlier stance. Mathew McDermott, the bank’s global head of digital assets, wrote:

Bitcoin is now considered an investable asset. It has its own idiosyncratic risk, partly because it’s still relatively new and going through an adoption phase.

“And it doesn’t behave as one would intuitively expect relative to other assets given the analogy to digital gold; to date, it’s tended to be more aligned with risk-on assets,” he continued, elaborating:

Clients and beyond are largely treating it as a new asset class, which is notable — it’s not often that we get to witness the emergence of a new asset class.

In February, when Coinbase filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a direct listing on Nasdaq, Goldman Sachs said that bitcoin was not yet an investable asset class.

The firm also initiated its coverage of the Coinbase stock (NASDAQ: COIN) on Monday with a buy rating and a price target of $306. Coinbase is currently trading at $227.88.

The Goldman Sachs analyst also acknowledges in the research note that regulation of the crypto space poses a significant risk to further price appreciation. Nonetheless, McDermott said institutional clients remain keen on adding crypto exposure to their portfolios.

He further noted that now “discussions with institutional clients revolve around how they can learn more on the topic and get access to the space.” In contrast, a few years ago, institutions were asking about what bitcoin or cryptocurrencies were.

Goldman Sachs has been bullish about bitcoin lately. The bank formally established a cryptocurrency trading team earlier this month and said that institutional demand for crypto “continues to grow significantly.”

What do you think about Goldman Sachs’ view of bitcoin now? Let us know in the comments section below.