Goldman Sachs looking to advise FTX on IPO, regulatory discussions ๐จ This article is 3 years old...
Goldman Sachs looking to advise FTX on IPO, regulatory discussions
The CEOs of Goldman Sachs and FTX met in March to address regulatory issues and potential investment rounds.
2 min read
Updated: Apr. 22, 2022 at 12:30 pm UTC
Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.
Goldman Sachs is looking to form a partnership with FTX, one of the largest bitcoin exchanges, the Financial Times reported on April 21.
According to the report, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon met with FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried in a closed-door meeting in March to examine possible opportunities for collaboration.
The discussions were about minimizing regulatory compliance in the U.S., particularly with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), future financing round, and a potential initial public offering (IPO).
Goldman is reportedly looking to play an active advisory role for the crypto firm.
The most recent research emphasizes the increasing link between established Wall Street behemoths and upstart crypto firms. Goldman Sachs is also interested in assisting FTX with its public listing.
However, sources close to the situation believe that Bankman-Fried is actively seeking further private funding alternatives.
After three investment rounds totaling hundreds of millions of dollars, FTX has amassed a $32 billion valuation. The crypto business finished a $400 million investment round at the end of January โ the lowest of the three funding rounds.
Goldman Sachs has come a long way from its early days of Bitcoin bashing and is now eyeing a stake in FTX, one of the largest crypto market businesses.
The claims of a partnership between one of the leading Wall Street banks and one of the top crypto exchanges come when FTX has applied with the CFTC demanding that its crypto futures products exclude brokers such as Wall Street banks from the financial markets.
The two CEOs also spoke about working on market making in cryptocurrency trading. Market makers are entities that set buy and sell prices on certain assets to facilitate transactions and offer liquidity.
The conversations show how conventional financial institutions are becoming more interested in the crypto market, especially after Goldman Sachs guided the initial public offering (IPO) of crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) last year.
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Bitcoin, a decentralized currency that defies the sway of central banks or administrators, transacts electronically, circumventing intermediaries via a peer-to-peer network.
FTX
FTX is a defunct cryptocurrency exchange, currently in bankruptcy proceedings, that was founded by Sam Bankman-Fried and Zixiao “Gary” Wang in May 2019.
Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs a leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm that provides a wide range of financial services to a substantial and diversified client base that includes corporations, financial institutions, governments and high-net-worth individuals.
Coinbase
Coinbase is a digital currency exchange and wallet service that allows individuals to buy, sell, and store digital currencies, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin.
Sam Bankman-Fried is the former CEO, and co-founder of defunct crypto exchange FTX and Alameda Research.