Advertisement
Goldman Sachs Executive Asserts Crypto Lacks Value, Denies Its Status as an Investment Asset Class
- Mossavar-Rahmani challenges the value of crypto, questioning its worth and exit strategies despite her track record of accurate financial guidance.
- Despite the crypto industry’s growth, she dismisses it as not a real asset class, isolated from Wall Street’s increasing acceptance.
- Anthony Pompliano criticises her stance, highlighting crypto’s tangible revenue and challenging her view as outdated in the digital age.
Goldman Sachs is one of the few remaining institutional crypto sceptics—but recent comments by the bank’s Chief Investment Officer of Wealth Management, Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani, still come as a surprise. As the Wall Street Journal reports, Mossavar-Rahmani was challenged by an intern about why she was dismissive of crypto—the intern did own unspecified crypto.
The executive answered by questioning when and at what point the intern thought about getting out of the market, questioning the worth of crypto.
Have you thought about what it’s worth […] at what point you’ll get out?
Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani Mossavar-Rahmani has a track record in getting predictions right, like advising clients to stay in stocks post the 2008 financial crisis and to limit their exposure to China. Despite other Wall Street heavy-weights getting into crypto, like BlackRock—whose CEO Larry Fink is a keen Bitcoin supporter— Mossavar-Rahmani says she doesn’t care what the others are doing.
In a recent interview, and drawing comparison to the tulip mania of the 1630s, she said in her view crypto is not “an investment asset class.”
We’re not believers in crypto.
Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani Not only that, her clients are not even asking about crypto.
Despite the Surge in Prices, Clients Show No Interest in Cryptocurrencies.
Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani Because, in Mossavar-Rahmani’s view, without “earnings, cash flow or dividends” you can simply not determine what an asset’s value is.
If you cannot assign a value, then how can you be bullish or bearish?
Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani Crypto Entrepreneur Reacts
In a social media post, Anthony Pompliano criticised Mossavar-Rahmani’s scepticism towards Bitcoin—Pomp highlighted the gap between traditional financial perspectives and the emerging value of cryptocurrencies.
Pomp challenged her dismissal of crypto as an investment asset class, noting, “This is a tough position to take on a $2.5 trillion asset class,” and criticised her assertion that cryptocurrencies produce nothing of value.
Bitcoin produces earnings via the block subsidy and transaction fees […] captured collectively by the decentralized network participants.
Anthony Pompliano He also contested the view on Bitcoin’s volatility and lack of inherent value, highlighting Bitcoin’s significant purchasing power increase compared to the US dollar’s depreciation.
Pomp added that traditional financial systems and their proponents, like Mossavar-Rahmani, are struggling to adapt to the digital transformation underway.
Related: Pomp Weighs In On CNBC Anchor’s Claim That Bitcoin Is Fairy Dust, Doesn’t Serve As Inflation Hedge
He said that the old guard is vehemently defending their outdated worldview, a stance that has been increasingly challenged and disproven over the last fifteen years.
The transition from an electronic CUSIP-based financial system to a digitally-native system is not going to happen overnight. It will take decades.
Anthony Pompliano 
Author
Aaron Feuerstein
Aaron Feuerstein is a freelance writer based in Melbourne. His focus is on decentralised finance and the regulatory space surrounding blockchain. He holds a Master's in Accounting. When he is not studying the latest legal case, he enjoys his time as a modest but eager hobby cook.
