7 October 2022
Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Buys an Uncommon Crypto Asset
Multiple banking giants are reportedly buying a peculiar crypto-asset other than Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). As per the CoinDesk report, Financial titans like Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, UBS, and brokerage firm ICAP are exposed to an exchange-traded product (ETP) tied to Polkadot’s native asset DOT.
The ETP trades on the Swiss Stock Exchange under the ticker ADOT: SW, which comes from Switzerland-based investment provider 21Shares. The Polkadot ETP debuted on February 4th with a value of $22 to $23. At the time of writing, it was $38.82. ETPs offer a simplified route to large institutions for crypto investments because the funding automobiles meet regulatory standards without the need to custody the underlying digital assets.
Based on the Bloomberg Terminal tape, Goldman Sachs, under the ticker “GS,” has purchased three lots on behalf of a client, whereas JP Morgan, under the ticker “JPMS”, purchased 500 shares, ICAP purchased 1,000 shares, and UBS purchased 2,770 shares.
Additionally, CoinDesk also revealed that Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch, under the ticker “MLCO”, purchased 2,200 shares. Broker-dealer Instinet, owned by Japan’s Nomura and trading under the ticker “INCA,” purchased 9,280 shares while Flow Traders, trading under the ticker “FLOW”, purchased 6,897 shares.
Laurent Kssis- 21Shares global head of ETPs, stated that the Polkadot-tracking ETP is presently having $15 million of assets under management. Kssis further added that the company also manages the Crypto Basket Index ETP, which tracks five major cryptocurrencies’ performance. Bitcoin is the largest component of the index, followed by Polkadot.