Goldman Sachs opposes Bitcoin, Cardano founder blames it on fear

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Written on May 28, 2020

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Goldman Sachs' highly anticipated conference call where the bank addressed BTC ended in disappointment.
The bank did address BTC, advising clients not to buy the coin.
Cardano's Charles Hoskinson claims that the bank fears that BTC could put it out of business.

Goldman Sachs’ recent conference call had the world excited, as the bank announced plans to talk about Bitcoin and the crypto industry. While many spent days wondering whether the bank plans to open up to crypto, Goldman seemingly had different plans.

As the conference call came and went, the crypto industry got disappointed after Goldman warned its clients to avoid cryptocurrencies.

Goldman Sachs in fear of Bitcoin? Cardano founder thinks so

The call took place this Wednesday, May 27th. As mentioned, everyone expected for Goldman Sachs to announce some collaboration with the crypto industry, or maybe even a hint of support for digital currencies. However, reports describing the conference call say that the bank’s representatives bashed Bitcoin without showing any amount of interest in it.

In fact, Digital Currency Group’s CEO, Barry Silbert, stated that Goldman’s officials do not even see BTC as an asset. Also, they certainly don’t recommend that their clients should buy it.

https://twitter.com/barrysilbert/status/1265616749149503488

This is where Cardano’s Charles Hoskinson entered the picture, giving his own view on the new development. Hoskinson took to Twitter to comment on the meeting, stating that the bank opposes Bitcoin so strongly out of fear. According to him, Bitcoin has the potential to leave Goldman Sachs out of business, which is why the bank is trying to sabotage it first.

"Goldman Sachs: We do not recommend bitcoin on a strategic or tactical basis for our client's investment portfolio…"

What they are really saying: "Please don't buy the stuff that puts us out of business. We are disintermediated and lose control"

— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) May 27, 2020

Is it fear, or simply not helping the competition

Marcus Swanepoel, the CEO of crypto exchange and wallet, Luno, sees Goldman’s stance towards Bitcoin as perfectly natural. He stated that it wouldn’t make sense for Goldman to recommend a product that the bank itself doesn’t or cannot sell.

“It’s like saying we have 1000 items in our store but what you should really get is that 1 item in the store across the road. Once they are able to sell #bitcoin to their clients they’re going to go 180 on this,” Swanepoel said. Considering that other major banks from traditional finances, like JPMorgan, recently switched their own stance towards the crypto industry, Swanepoel’s prediction is far from being impossible. However, the crypto industry has long suffered bashing by banks and the traditional finance industry, in general, so Hoskinson’s view on the situation is also quite understandable.