Those companies whose job it is to manage the wealth and personal affairs of very rich people are now increasingly eyeing crypto, per a new survey.
American financial giant Goldman Sachs Group claims that nearly half of the family offices it does business with want to add digital currencies to their investments, Bloomberg reported.
The bank had conducted a survey that included responses from more than 150 family offices worldwide. Of the participating firms, 22% had assets under management of USD 5bn or more, while 45% oversaw USD 1bn – USD4.9bn.
The survey found that 15% of respondents are already invested in unspecified cryptocurrencies.
Furthermore, 45% would be interested in investing as a hedge for “higher inflation, prolonged low rates, and other macroeconomic developments following a year of unprecedented global monetary and fiscal stimulus.”
Respondents also indicated an interest in investing in the “digital asset ecosystem.”
Per Meena Flynn, who helps lead private wealth management for Goldman, the majority of families want to talk to them “about blockchain and digital ledger technology,” and there are many who think that “this technology is going to be as impactful as the internet has been from an efficiency and productivity perspective.”
However, other respondents said that they still had concerns about the long-term value of digital currencies, despite the financial industry’s recent larger adoption of crypto and emerging blockchain technologies.
Meanwhile, the CEO of Swiss banking giant UBS, Ralph Hamers, told Bloomberg TV that crypto is an “untested asset category,” adding that their clients have asked about crypto. “Clients are looking at different alternatives,” he said. “They hear about crypto—and there is a bit of a fear of missing out as well, they read it in the papers—but they also see the volatility. So honestly, we advise with caution, we don’t offer it actively.”
At 15:02 UTC, bitcoin (BTC) trades at USD 31,879 and is up by 7% in a day. Ethereum (ETH) rallied by 9%, reaching USD 1,939.
(Photo : Root Nation)
