Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein: I Don't Love Cryptocurrency
Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein says a lot of the talk about cryptocurrencies is “hype” and that he doesn’t “love” the concept of the digital assets.
“I don’t get how something that moves thirty percent in a day, or twenty percent, can be a store of value,” he told Cheddar. “Something that is very hard to clear or retain, that gets stolen a lot -- I don’t see how that can be a medium of exchange.”
His statements come after reports in December that Goldman was planning to launch a crypto trading desk by the middle of this year. Blankfein clarified that, while the company will clear futures contracts for customers, it has no plans at this time to buy, sell, and hold positions in digital assets for its customers.
Blankfein did acknowledge, though, that his skepticism over crypto may prove to be unwarranted.
“I remember when cell phones came out, and I said to myself, ‘Who the hell is going to lug around this thing?’ A lot of things have worked out that I don’t love...I’ve learned in my life in the financial markets, sponsoring companies and investing in things, to keep an open mind as long as you can.”
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/goldman-sachs-ceo-lloyd-blankfein-weighs-in-on-market-volatility-crypto-and-trump).
An independent watchdog within the IRS reports that while taxpayer services have vastly improved, the agency is still too slow to resolve identity theft cases. And National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins says those delays are “unconscionable.” Erin M. Collins said in the report released Wednesday that overall the 2024 filing season went smoothly, though IRS delays in resolving identity theft victim assistance cases are worsening. It took nearly 19 months to resolve self-reported identity theft cases as of January, and Wednesday's report states that now it takes 22 months to resolve these cases.
Amazon.com Inc. surpassed $2 trillion in market value for the first time in afternoon trading on Wednesday. The push higher for Amazon’s stock market valuation comes a little more than a week after Nvidia hit $3 trillion and briefly became the most valuable company on Wall Street. Nvidia’s chips are used to power many AI application and its valuation has soared as a result. Amazon has also been making big investments in AI as global interest has grown in the technology. Most of the company’s focus has been on business-focused products.
Climate change doesn’t just mean more extreme weather – it also leads to billions of dollars in lost productivity, tourism, and stresses infrastructure.
It’s an annual tradition: the Fed’s banking ‘stress test.’ A year after the regional banking crisis, there are good reasons to make sure they’re prepped.
Summer is upon us, which means weddings, trips overseas, and trips to see Taylor Swift. Avoid a “Cruel Summer” with these budget-friendly tips and tricks.
While Nvidia's meteoric rise led it to briefly dethrone Microsoft as the world's biggest public company, there's a lot more going on in this market than A.I.
