Goldman Sachs is hiring for its blockchain division amid layoffs

Investment bank Goldman Sachs has announced that it is open for hiring in its digital asset division to support hiring for blockchain applications.

Although cryptocurrency prices are slowly starting to rise, employment in the crypto industry has not improved. Goldman Sachs’ announcement of the potential hiring of blockchain experts doubles down on the potential for adoption of blockchain technology at TradFi.

The announcement on February 28th comes after Goldman Sachs cut its headcount by 3,200 people. The cryptocurrency industry is also experiencing mass layoffs after the 2022 market crash and the fall of FTX.

The company’s global head Matthew McDermott made the remarks in Hong Kong after the city approved GS DAP for trading its first virtual green bond. McDermott believes that blockchain technology can boost traditional finance sectors such as private equity and bring more market transparency.

He told Bloomberg that the bank is “extremely supportive” of blockchain applications and will hire “as appropriate” this year.

GS DAP is a private blockchain, and Goldman Sachs has a vision of the platform being used for other assets, including derivatives, alternatives, and unit funds.

In a recent GS DAP application in Hong Kong, the city sold HK$800 million ($102 million) worth of green tokenized bonds, cutting the settlement time from five days to one.

McDermott said that GS DAP allows investors to access more data, enhances transparency, and improves asset pricing compared to public blockchains such as Ethereum and Bitcoin.

These GS DAP qualities encourage asset liquidity and attract more investors to the secondary market.

However, Goldman’s global head is skeptical that blockchain technology will improve stocks or original public offerings as they have already been settled.

He also said that TradFi transactions are not likely to move entirely to public blockchains soon. He noted that uncertainty and distrust in the cryptocurrency industry and its systems will make the transition longer.

Discussions about coding

Conversations about tokenizing assets have been under way in the finance sector, with the trend towards the use of digital ledgers.

The proposed teams argued that tokenization could make illiquid assets such as private equity easier to trade and faster settlement of investments such as bonds.

The progress of the token assets has been slow due to the current distrust in the cryptocurrency industry and the downfall of giant blockchain entities such as FTX.

Goldman launched a digital asset platform

Goldman Sachs’ massive support for blockchain applications comes nearly a month after the company’s digital asset platform, GS DAPTM, was introduced on January 10.

GS DAP is a privacy-enabled blockchain built on Canton’s Daml smart contract language and Digital Asset.

Daml-based tokenization platform records all cash flows, rights and responsibilities throughout the life cycle of the asset.

McDermott said that the GS DAP aims to help users see the benefits of end-to-end digital lifecycle processing across digital currencies, tokenized assets, and other financial entities.

The platform is dedicated to improving transaction speed and reducing DvP settlement time.