Goldman Sachs Says Bitcoin Isn't An Investment Asset Class, That Clients Aren't Interested In Crypto

Goldman Sachs Says Bitcoin Isn’t An Investment Asset Class, That Clients Aren’t Interested In Crypto

Updated: 03 April 2024

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Goldman Sachs said Bitcoin and other digital assets are not an investment asset class, and that its clients aren’t interested in cryptocurrencies.

“We do not think it is an investment asset class,“ Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani, CIO of the bank’s wealth management unit, said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). “We’re not believers in crypto.”

Her comments come even as investors pile into spot Bitcoin ETFs (exchange-traded funds) that were launched by Wall Street titans including BlackRock and Fidelity in January.

Bitcoin ETFs traded about $111 billion in March, tripling their performance in February, said Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst Eric Balchunas in a post on X.

Goldman Sachs Clients Disinterested In Gaining Bitcoin Exposure

When asked if Goldman Sachs clients are looking to gain exposure to Bitcoin, Mossavar-Rahmani said that the investment giant’s clients are not interested.

Her skepticism towards the crypto sector stems in part from the difficulty of assessing the true value of digital currencies.

“If you can’t put value on it, then how can you be bullish or bearish?” she said.

She also criticized the crypto community for calling cryptocurrencies the “democratization of finance,” when “the main decisions end up being driven by a few controlling people.”

This is not the first time Mossavar-Rahmani has expressed doubts regarding the potential of Bitcoin. Weeks after the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs (exchange-traded funds) in the U.S., she warned the public against investing in the crypto market leader.

“People can use it [Bitcoin] if they want for total speculation, but it is not an investment,” the Goldman Sachs CIO said in an earlier interview with the WSJ. Investors should not be ”investing in cryptocurrencies, in Bitcoin, in the ETF, as part of an investment portfolio,” she added.

Wall Street Giants Are Bullish On Bitcoin

While Goldman Sachs maintains its multi-year-long negative view towards Bitcoin and the crypto sector, its competitors are warming up to investing in the digital asset.

Mark Yusko, the prominent hedge fund manager and CEO of Morgan Greek Capital Management, predicted that BTC could soar to as high as $150k by the end of this year. Known Bitcoin maximalist Michael Saylor is also bullish on Bitcoin, saying that MicroStrategy will not be around in 1,000 years, but BTC will be.

Great chart from @JSeyff that shows how $IBIT has just taken over the volume market share from $GBTC. While all of the ETFs won in terms of being profitable hits, $IBIT won the volume race and is officially the $GLD of bitcoin. It's basically a wrap. pic.twitter.com/SGe8gH1heL

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) April 2, 2024

Meanwhile, the booming spot Bitcoin ETF market suggests that institutional investors are interested in gaining exposure to BTC. BlackRock’s IBIT ETF has stolen the show since its launch at the start of the year, and managed to take over the volume market share from Grayscale’s converted Bitcoin Trust.