Goldman Sachs has sued Malaysia in a British court
Goldman Sachs has been a Bitcoin bear for years even as the digital currency has seen significant gains during the first quarter of the year. AFP

KEY POINTS

  • Goldman's CIO said the actual worth of Bitcoin and digital assets cannot be evaluated
  • She also called out crypto enthusiasts for their supposed hypocrisy in terms of democratized finance
  • She previously warned the public against investing in Bitcoin or spot BTC ETFs

Bitcoin has been on a significant bull run in recent months even as it has had some lows, but investment banking giant Goldman Sachs is unfazed, saying it remains a non-believer of cryptocurrency's potential.

Goldman Sachs still doesn't see value in the digital coin, chief investment officer of Goldman Sachs' Wealth Management unit, Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani, told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published Tuesday.

"We do not think it as an investment asset class," she said of digital assets. "We're not believers in crypto," she reiterated. She went on to note that it was impossible to actually evaluate the worth of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. "If you cannot assign a value, then how you can you be bullish or bearish?" she quipped.

Asked if Goldman Sachs clients have expressed interest in exposure to Bitcoin, she said the investment behemoth's clients are disinterested.

Mossavar-Rahmani expressed a strong negative sentiment toward the entire crypto industry, saying crypto enthusiasts "all proclaim democratization of finance, yet the main decisions end up being driven by a few controlling people."

Her comments came weeks after Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, soared beyond its late 2021 all-time high to hit $73,000. The new record was set ahead of the digital currency's halving event later this month, wherein BTC mining rewards are cut in half, reducing the rate at which new Bitcoins are circulated.

This isn't the first time Mossarav-Rahmani expressed doubts about the potential of the world's first decentralized cryptocurrency. She warned the public against investing in the digital coin some weeks after the U.S. Securities and Exchange (SEC) approved 11 spot BTC exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

"People can use it if they want for total speculation, but it is not an investment, and people should not be investing in cryptocurrencies, in Bitcoin, in the ETF, as part of an investment portfolio," she told WSJ at the time.

Goldman Sachs has had a negative view of digital assets for years, even as other banks and investment titans have already warmed up to the emerging sector that has gained apparent popularity among investors.

Just recently, prominent hedge fund manager and CEO of Morgan Creek Capital Management Mark Yusko predicted that Bitcoin could reach up to $150,000 by the end of 2024.

MicroStrategy's Michael Saylor, a known Bitcoin maximalist and one of the early adopters of the asset, said last week that his company will not be around in 1,000 years, but BTC will remain.

Philanthropist and investor Brock Pierce told International Business Times that it is "very realistic" for BTC to "break $100K this year," considering the recent bull run and the possibility of another round of all-time highs after the halving event, which only takes place every four years.

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