While speaking to Les Echos news magazine of France, David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs revealed that the financial institution is conducting detailed study on tokenization.
David Solomon further stated that he sees a scenario where global payment systems are moving in favor of stablecoins, which are cryptos pegged to fiat assets such as the US dollar.
Solomon did not reveal whether Goldman Sachs had any kind of discussion with Facebook on the latter’s stablecoin Libra or crypto wallet Calibra. However, he stated that his enterprise finds the endeavor “interesting.”
Regarding Goldman Sachs’ interest in towing a path similar to JP Morgan Chase which has launched its own native cryptocurrency, Solomon stated as follows:
“Assume that all major financial institutions around the world are looking at the potential of tokenization, stablecoins and frictionless payments.”
Furthermore, the CEO of investment banking behemoth forecast that regulations will be soon amended to oversee crypto related operations, but does not foresee a scenario where blockchain startups will force banks to shut down.
“Admittedly, they will have to evolve, because the trades linked to the payment flows will become less profitable. But there are many other reasons why banks must remain innovative, otherwise they will disappear.”
Solomon also assumed that Facebook would likely prefer to avoid regulatory issues which banks face and therefore it is quite possible that the social media platform provider will enter into collaboration with other major financial institutions.
Speculation is rife that JP Morgan Chase has started preliminary work to launch its own native crypto by the end of this year. In April 2018, Solomon clearly refused reports saying that Goldman Sachs is assembling a crypto trading desk team. Furthermore, Goldman Sachs officially confirmed its lack of interest in crypto trading during a hearing before the US House of Representatives Financial Services Committee.
