Bloomberg: Wall Street Giants Postpone Entering Crypto Industry Amid Falling Prices

Wall Street giants are postponing their plans to more actively enter the crypto industry as the value of cryptocurrencies has fallen, Bloomberg reports Sunday, Dec. 23.

The article begins: "Limbo - that's where to find Wall Street when it comes to cryptocurrencies," and then focuses on the efforts in the crypto sphere this year made by banking giant Goldman Sachs, multinational financial services company Morgan Stanley, major banking conglomerate Citigroup Inc. and United Kingdom financial services provider Barclays PLC. According to people familiar with Goldman Sachs' crypto business, the firm's progress has been too slow to be noticeable.

The company's crypto non-derivative funds have so far attracted only 20 clients, the unnamed sources told Bloomberg.

Justin Schmidt, hired to head digital assets division at Goldman Sachs, revealed in November that regulators were limiting his plans.

As for Morgan Stanley, the company has been ready to launch swaps tracking Bitcoin futures since early fall, but has not yet received a single contract, sources told Bloomberg.

The firm is ready to launch crypto services as soon as there is any sign of demand, an unnamed source noted.

A spokesman noted that the U.K. company has no plans to open a crypto trading desk.

As Cointelegraph reported in October, Goldman Sachs' former partner and current CEO of crypto investment firm Galaxy Digital Mike Novogratz predicted that institutions will likely become involved in more crypto deals in Q1-Q2 2019.

Novogratz and Goldman Sachs invested about $15 million in U.S. crypto custody service BitGo.

In the meantime, the banking giant has since denied rumors of having abandoned its plans to launch a crypto trading desk.