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Goldman Sachs has started giving research reports from crypto news and data company The Block to its institutional trading clients.
Hedge funds and other clients received the reports Thursday through the investment bank’s digital platform Marquee, according to an email received from CNBC. The first report available to Goldman customers was an overview of decentralized financial protocols (DeFi) on the Ethereum network.
“To provide relevant content and research on digital assets, GS Digital Assets now offers exclusive access to select reports from The Block Research,” said the bank. “While these usually require a paid subscription, customers with a Marquee account can access them for free.”
The move by Goldman, a leading global investment bank, is a sign of the increased demand from large investors for information and analysis on cryptocurrencies and related areas such as DeFi. Bank of America and Morgan Stanley each announced new crypto research desks this year, while Goldman revamped its digital assets division last year and started trading Bitcoin-linked instruments in May.
A Goldman spokesperson confirmed the authenticity of the customer email and declined to comment.
The investment bank said its Marquee platform, which enables clients to access data and analytics without using traditional methods like calling sellers, has 50,000 active monthly users.
The dizzying rise of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in recent years has been accompanied by the rise of new news outlets like The Block and CoinDesk, and an expansion of attitudes from established media outlets like Bloomberg News.
“Large financial institutions and technology companies have been using The Block’s research and data services for some time to better understand the fast-growing digital asset market,” said Michael McCaffrey, CEO of The Block, in an email.