Goldman Sachs is assisting FTX in negotiations with US authorities and a future Initial Public Offering (IPO), according to Sam Bankman-Fried and David Solomon.
The founder and CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, met with Goldman Sachs (GS) CEO David Solomon in the Caribbean to examine future cooperation between the two companies, according to a report published Thursday by the Financial Times.
According to the story, which cited people familiar with the subject, the two chief executives discussed Goldman Sachs advising FTX on future fundraising rounds and playing a role in a prospective initial public offering (IPO).
Solomon also provided FTX with counsel from Goldman Sachs during conversations with authorities in the United States.
In March, FTX submitted a proposal to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) that would allow it to directly settle deals for its customers in the derivatives market.
On May 23, the plan will be subjected to an informal hearing by the regulator.
The two also talked about the possibility of working on market making in Bitcoin and “cryptocurrency” trading.
Market making is the process of determining buy and sell prices for certain assets in order to facilitate trades and generate liquidity.
Following Goldman Sachs’ successful initial public offering (IPO) of the Bitcoin and ”crypto” exchange Coinbase (COIN) last year, the conversations illustrate the growing interest conventional financial institutions are showing in the cryptocurrency industry as a whole.
The Coinbase IPO made it the sixth largest publicly traded financial institution, where do you think FTX would stack up post offering? Let us know on Twitter!
