Goldman Sachs cosies up to FTX at Caribbean meeting
The chief executive of Goldman Sachs met the founder of crypto exchange FTX to discuss establishing links between the firms.
At a meeting in the Caribbean Goldman Sachs’ David Solomon met FTX’s billionaire founder Sam Bankman-Fried to discuss taking an advisory role in the crypto exchange’s potential initial public offering, the Financial Times first reported.
Solomon also reportedly offered to help FTX navigate the US’ regulatory environment.
In March the crypto exchange recently filed a request to the US derivatives regulator the CFTC to allow the firm to sell leveraged crypto derivatives to retail investors and settle their trades directly, cutting out intermediaries such as Goldman Sachs.
The meeting is a sign of crypto’s increasing prominence in the world of traditional finance. FTX, which was founded by 30-year-old Bankman-Fried in 2019, has quickly grown to become a crypto behemoth achieving a $32bn valuation in January.
While Bankman-Fried has not publicly stated his intention to take the exchange public rumours are swirling that an IPO could be on the cards.
Last year Goldman Sachs led a consortium of banks which advised crypto exchange giant Coinbase on its Nasdaq IPO last year. Coinbase shares have tumbled by over 50 per cent since their debut in April 2021.
Goldman Sachs declined to comment when approached by City PM.
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