London-based multinational investment bank agiant Barclays has reportedly halted work on its cryptocurrency trading project.
Barclays Stops Cryptocurrency Trading Project
One of the leading multinational investment banks Barclays has put its work on a cryptocurrency trading project to an end or “on ice,” Financial News London reports, citing two people familiar with the matter.
Earlier this year, the bank had put together a senior team of specialists to explore how it could incorporate trading of cryptocurrencies into its existing markets businesses. The team consisted of Chris Tyrer – the bank’s former head of energy trading, Marvin Barth, head of emerging markets macro strategy and FX, Lee Braine, a senior technologist, and consultant Matthieu Jobbe Duval.
In April, Bitcoinist reported that Barclays was considering a Bitcoin [coin_price] trading desk.
Then in August, Barclays, among other banking giants, took part in an app store trial for programs, which are entirely based on distributed ledger technology or blockchain, one of the key components that make Bitcoin tick.
History is Repeating Itself
Earlier this year, unconfirmed reports much like the one from Financial News London, announced that Goldman Sachs shelved its proposed plan to open a Bitcoin trading desk. At the same time, the price of Bitcoin (and other cryptocurrencies) experienced significant pullback as Ethereum (ETH) [coin_price coin=ethereum] lost 12 percent of its value in under an hour.
Immediately after the reports went off, Goldman Sachs’ CFO Martin Chavez dubbed them as “fake news.”
“I never thought I would hear myself use this term but I really have to describe that news as fake news,” said Chavez.
Maybe someone who was thinking about our activities here got very excited that we would be making markets as principal and physical bitcoin, and as they got into it they realized part of the evolution but it’s not here yet.
What do you think of the report that Barclays has halted work on its cryptocurrency trading project? Don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments below!
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