Investment Giant Goldman Sachs Offers the First Bitcoin-backed Lending Loan

New York-based multinational investment bank Goldman Sachs announced that the investment bank has launched a bitcoin-backed lending loan.

This is the first over-the-counter bitcoin option traded in March by Goldman Sachs Group to further provide digital asset services to Wall Street investors. The company said lenders can use the bitcoin they own as cash collateral to make loans.

A spokeswoman for the investment bank said Goldman's interest was drawn to the bitcoin-backed lending facility because of its unique structure and required 24-hour risk management, adding that this step marks the entry of Goldman Sachs Group into a new line of business.

Last May, Goldman created a cryptocurrency trading desk to make markets in digital currencies such as Bitcoin. The move marked its major step in digital assets investing.

Goldman also assigned Galaxy, the crypto merchant bank founded by Mike Novogratz, to serve as its liquidity provider to help it equip its clients with best-execution pricing and secure access to the assets they want to trade.

MacroStrategy, a subsidiary of MicroStrategy, a US business software firm, announced Tuesday that it secured a $205 million term loan from Silvergate Bank, a crypto-focused bank.

Last month, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reviewed how it can meet increasing client demand to own and invest in Bitcoin, while still staying on the right side of the law.

Image source: Shutterstock