Goldman Sachs denies Bitcoin is an asset class

Today, Goldman Sachs, one of the world's largest investment banks, will be holding a conference with investors discussing the current state of the economy, inflation, and Bitcoin among other things. But despite the hype, it appears Goldman Sachs isn't likely to discuss Bitcoin favorably to its investors.

The talk, titled "US Economic Outlook & Implications of Current Policies for Inflation, Gold and Bitcoin" will be hosted by Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani, Chief Investment Officer of Goldman Sach's Investment Strategy Group (ISG) and is scheduled to go live at 10:30 AM ET, but according to the slides that were leaked just minutes ago, Bitcoin enthusiasts might want to sit this one out.

According to an image shared by Coindesk's Zack Voell on Twitter, Goldman Sachs has outright slammed cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, stating plain and simply "cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin are not an asset class." The slide goes on to list all the reasons why cryptocurrencies are not an asset class, including noting that they do not generate cash flow like bonds, cannot be used to dampen volatility, and "do not show evidence of hedging inflation."

The slide also throws cold water on hopes that Goldman Sachs may be planning to expose its investors to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. "We also believe that while hedge funds may find trading cryptocurrencies appealing because of their high volatility, that allure does not constitute a viable investment rationale."

It further claims that Bitcoin can be a conduit for illicit activity. "Despite that most cryptocurrency ledgers are permanent and auditable public records, cryptocurrencies nevertheless abet illicit activities such as Ponzi schemes, ransomware, money laundering and darknet markets," the slides state.

Crypto fraud, theft doubled to $4.5 billion in 2019, new report claims

Losses suffered from cryptocurrency-related crimes more than doubled to $4.52 billion last year, according to a report by blockchain forensics firm CipherTrace. Despite the total increase, a majority of the crimes were related to fraud and misappropriation ($4.1 billion), while thefts and hacks fell 66% from $1.08 billion in 2018 to $371 million in 2019.  The firm said the figures for fraud and scams could have been much higher, but it chose not to include “two very widely publicized and extreme...

There's also a timeline of crypto exchange hacks. As Decrypt has reported, more than $1 billion was stolen in crypto hacks in 2018, although this did drop to $371 million in 2019. Perhaps Goldman Sachs has a point.