Jes Staley, CEO of finance corporation Barclays declared during the annual meeting of General Directors of the bank that the company is not planning to open a Cryptocurrencies trading department in the near future, Financial News says. Answering one of the shareholders Staley explained that the bank has conducted a research on how cryptocurrencies are affecting the financial sector. However the company is still skeptical of crypto coins due to the lack of Government regulation.
”Cryptocurrency is a real challenge for us because, on the one hand, there is the innovative side of it and wanting to stay in the forefront of technology’s improvement in finance… On the other side of it, there is the possibility of cryptocurrencies being used for activities that the bank wants to have no part of.”
Earlier in April, there were rumors that Barclays could start trading cryptocurrencies and open a crypto department in cooperation with Goldman Sachs. These gained more ground after some clients reported Barclays is conducting research about cryptocurrencies. Recently, Goldman Sachs has hired a former trader Justin Schmidt to become their First Head of Digital Asset Markets.
Famous trader turned Vice President will develop a cryptocurrency strategy for Goldman Sachs. However, company is still denying creation of a digital platform for crypto operations.
By Nadya Astam