Goldman Sachs says Bitcoin "is not fraud", plans to negotiate

Goldman Sachs said Bitcoin "is not fraud" as it unveiled plans to buy and sell criptomoeda, the New York Times reported on May 2.

In a move that differentiates the investment banking giant from its Wall Street competitors, Goldman will initially offer several contracts with exposure to Bitcoin before entering with two feet on the accelerator at the operations lane.

Commenting on the decision, Rana Yared, an executive involved in bid creation, said the bank was "flooded" with customer requests.

"This resonates with us when a customer says, 'I want to have Bitcoin or Bitcoin futures because I think it's an alternative value reserve,'" she told the publication.

"... It's not a new risk that we do not understand. It's just a bigger risk that we need to be more aware of here."

She added that Goldman "has concluded that Bitcoin is not a fraud," a poignant statement in an industry in which Bitcoin's infamous description by competing CEO JPMorgan Jamie Dimon still resonates.

However, even Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein has publicly stated that Bitcoin "is not for him" during the all-time high prices moments of December 2017, and Yared quickly appeared to dispel any myths that the bank was a lender of Bitcoin.

"I would not describe myself as a true believer who wakes up thinking that Bitcoin will dominate the world," she added.

"For almost everyone involved, there was personal skepticism brought to the table."