Bitcoin Too Volatile for Goldman Sachs, Says CEO

Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein has said it's to early for the bank to consider a bitcoin strategy as it "doesn't feel like a store of value."

By Sujha Sundararajan

Dec 1, 2017 at 11:05 a.m. UTC

Updated Sep 13, 2021 at 7:13 a.m. UTC

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Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein has said high volatility means it's too early for the bank to consider a bitcoin strategy.

In an interview with Bloomberg on Nov. 30, Blankfein said, if a cryptocurrency can rise or fall 20 percent in a day, it "doesn't feel like a currency, doesn't feel like a store of value."

He continued:

"If it works out – and it gets more established, and it trades more like a store of value, and it doesn't move up and down 20 percent, and there is liquidity to it – we'll get to it."

Blankfein's comments follow recent statements from Goldman Sachs's global head of commodities research, Jeff Currie, who said on Wednesday that bitcoin is a commodity similar to gold, adding that the lack of liquidity is driving its volatility.

Last month, Blankfein also said that he is "open to bitcoin." However, he indicated he still has a "level of discomfort" with the cryptocurrency, as he does with anything new – a stance that was echoed in Wednesday's Bloomberg interview.

Lloyd Blankfein image via Fortune Live Media/Flickr

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