Apart from all the NFT craziness, last week was was characterised by Wall Street weighing in on crypto.

First came the news that Goldman Sachs is restarting its crypto trading desk, closely followed by Citi making a cautiously bullish case for Bitcoin as an asset class in a new report. And according to The Block, we may also soon see the brokerage and financial advisory firm, Charles Schwab, making a foray into the space.

Then there were the surveys. On Tuesday, JPMorgan released the findings of its survey of over 3,400 institutional investors about their views on cryptoassets. The majority of respondents (78%) said it was unlikely their firm will invest in or offer trading services for crypto.

Three days later, Goldman Sachs published the findings of its own client survey. The results were considerably more bullish compared to JPMorgan's research as 61% said they expect their digital asset holdings to increase in the next 12-24 months. 40% of respondents claimed to already have exposure to cryptocurrencies.

And finally, it's starting to get difficult to remember a time Michael Saylor was not out shopping for Bitcoin.  🛍  On Friday, MicroStrategy disclosed that it had spent another $10m in cash to buy 205 of the top cryptocurrency, bringing its total to about 91,064 Bitcoin.

Below is our weekly roundup of industry news. If you’d like to get in touch with us about any of our products or services, we look forward to hearing from you. Just send us a note.

This week's top stories

Goldman Sachs set to jump back into cryptocurrency trading

A report by Reuters last week claims Goldman Sachs is restarting its cryptocurrency trading desk after a three-year hiatus. The bank is within weeks of launching Bitcoin futures trading, and is exploring the potential for a bitcoin exchange-traded fund and digital asset custody.

The news was confirmed by Matt McDermott, global head of digital assets for Goldman Sachs Global Markets Division. Read more

Grayscale Bitcoin Trust premium hits all time low

Shares in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) have turned negative, according to crypto metrics platform Glassnode. The shares are now trading at a discount of around 12% compared to the underlying value of Bitcoin per share—a record low.

One of the reasons for this could be the growing competition in the sector. For example, both SkyBridge and Osprey have already launched their own BTC trust offerings that charge much lower annual fees than Grayscale’s 2% fee: at 0.75% and 0.49%, respectively. Apart from that, two Bitcoin exchange-traded funds have been recently approved and launched in Canada — and they are already picking up steam. Read more

Bitcoin could become the “currency of choice for international trade”, says Citi

US banking giant Citi authored a new report which suggests Bitcoin could become 'an international trade currency' as it evolves.

Bitcoin: At the Tipping Point charts the evolution of Bitcoin from a form of payment to its current status as a store of value. The authors forecast that Bitcoin’s core properties combined with its global reach and neutrality could see it morph into the 'currency of choice' for international trade in around seven years. Read more

In case you missed it..

⚡️ Cardano becomes a multi-asset blockchain with today’s hard fork.

⚡️ New York AG warns that if crypto firms don't 'play by the rules' they will get shut down.

⚡️ Binance Smart Chain DeFi project hacked for $31m.

⚡️ Canadian Bitcoin ETF issuer Evolve plans Ethereum ETF.

⚡️ Grayscale bought 80% of all Litecoin mined in February.

⚡️ Marc Lasry, Chris Giancarlo invest in crypto firm BlockTower.

⚡️ Ex-chairman Tarbert, who dubbed Ether a commodity, is leaving the CFTC.

⚡️ Tether's supply dominance hits record low as USDC & co rise.

⚡️ Crypto.com launches $200m fund for crypto startups.

⚡️ CEOs of Coinbase, FTX and Binance top Chinese blockchain billionaire’s list.

⚡️ BitMEX’s Arthur Hayes proposes surrender to U.S. authorities.

⚡️ Jack Dorsey: Bids reach $2.5m for Twitter co-founder's first post.

⚡️ An original Banksy has been burned and turned into an NFT.

⚡️ Cuban: Crazy NFT prices ‘will settle down’ over time, but the tech is here to stay.

⚡️ Cover protocol slides 40% following breakup with Yearn Finance (YFI).

⚡️ JPMorgan tells clients that Bitcoin can be a portfolio diversifier 'if sized correctly’.

⚡️ Sen. Sherrod Brown tells the Fed to move forward on CBDC or risk being 'left behind’.

⚡️ Robinhood has reportedly chosen Nasdaq for its IPO.

⚡️ Mark Cuban’s Mavericks to accept Dogecoin for tickets, merch.

From Copper

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxOTlUp_rJU

For the latest episode of CopperCasts, host Tyler Kenyon welcomed Hugo Philion of Flare Network to chat about the scope and goals of this exciting project. The conversation touches on topics such as regulation, NFTs, celebrity endorsement of the crypto space and why Flare is not an ‘Ethereum Killer’.

Make sure to also check out Hugo’s Show & Tell (above) to hear him describe how Flare can enable the trustless usage of non-Turing complete tokens such as Ripple, Litecoin and Stellar with smart contracts. Read More