-Source-CNBC-
Bitcoin slipped below $7,000 Wednesday after a report that Goldman Sachs is abandoning plans to open a trading desk for cryptocurrencies.
The world's largest digital currency fell roughly 6 percent to a low of $6,866.06, according to data from CoinDesk.
Goldman still sees the regulatory environment as ambiguous, according to Business Insider, which cited people familiar with the matter. The Wall Street giant has been considering the launch of a new trading operation focused on bitcoin and other digital currencies for the past year. The bank's CEO Lloyd Blankfein tweeted in October that Goldman was "still thinking about bitcoin."
"No conclusion - not endorsing/rejecting. Know that folks also were skeptical when paper money displaced gold," Blankfein said at the time.
Executives now say more steps need to be taken, most of them outside the bank's control, before a regulated institution would be allowed to trade cryptocurrencies, according to Business Insider.
Goldman would not confirm the report to CNBC, and repeated its only public comment on the matter.
"In response to client interest in various digital products, we are exploring how best to serve them in the space. At this point, we have not reached a conclusion on the scope of our digital asset offering," Goldman Sachs said in a statement.
Brian Kelly, founder and CEO of crypto hedge fund BKCM, said while this doesn't have an impact on actual bitcoin trading volume short-term, the report pours cold water on long-term sentiment.
"They were not a part of the ecosystem yet, but to the extent that they represent the institutional herd, this is a negative," Kelly said. Read more
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