Goldman Sachs is flirting with bitcoin trading (GS)

lloyd blankfein, goldman sachs

Goldman Sachs is flirting with the idea of setting up a bitcoin trading shop.

The Wall Street powerhouse is in the very early stages of potentially setting up a bitcoin trading operation, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal's Paul Vigna, Telis Demos, and Liz Hoffman.

“In response to client interest in digital currencies we are exploring how best to serve them in this space,” a Goldman spokeswoman told The Journal.

If Goldman follows through, they would be the first blue-chip financial services firm to break into the cryptocurrency market, which this year has exploded in value.

Goldman's C-Suite has kept pretty quiet about digital coins. Meanwhile, the rest of Wall Street has mixed reviews. On one hand, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon called bitcoin "a fraud" and likened it to the tulips bulbs bubble of the 1600s. On the other, James Gorman, Morgan Stanley's chief executive officer, has taken a more moderate position on bitcoin, saying last week it is "more than just a fad."

Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, is up 360% year-to-date.