FILE PHOTO: The logo for Goldman Sachs is seen on the trading floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, New York, U.S., November 17, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo
(Reuters) -Goldman Sachs is exploring options to spin out its technology platform housed under its digital assets business, the Wall Street bank said on Monday.
Plans for the new company are in the early stages, but Goldman aims to execute the spin-out within the next 12 to 18 months, Mathew McDermott, the bank's global head of digital assets, said, according to a Bloomberg News report.
The company's digital assets tech platform, known as GS DAP, will partner with rates and credit trading platform Tradeweb Markets, marking the first tie-up in a bid to expand the platform's uses, Goldman said.
"Establishing a new, standalone company independent of Goldman Sachs and its Digital Assets business will help to provide the future runway for digital financial services," according to the bank.
Goldman's digital assets business, since its inception, has aided the adoption of blockchain technology and crypto-linked trading products.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds. Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency, has more than doubled its value so far in 2024.
Crypto stocks have also gained following the U.S. election. President-elect Donald Trump has promised to make the country the "crypto capital of the planet" and to accumulate a national stockpile of bitcoin.
(Reporting by Pritam Biswas in Bengaluru and Saeed Azhar in New York; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
