Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and CEO of crypto exchange FTX, met with Goldman Sachs (GS) CEO David Solomon in the Caribbean to discuss possible collaborations between the two companies, the Financial Times reported Thursday.
- The two chiefs talked about Goldman Sachs advising FTX, which was valued at $32 billion in January, on future funding rounds and taking a role in a possible IPO, according to the report, which cited people familiar with the matter.
- Solomon also offered FTX Goldman Sachs' advice in talks with regulators in the U.S. FTX filed a proposal with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in March that would allow the company to settle its derivatives clients' trades directly. The regulator will hear the proposal informally on May 23.
- The two firms also talked about collaborating on market making in crypto trading. Market making involves setting buy and sell prices for specific assets to facilitate trading and provide liquidity.
- The talks show the growing interest of established financial institutions in the crypto industry after Goldman Sachs led the initial public offering of crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) last year.
- Goldman Sachs declined to comment on the report when contacted by CoinDesk. FTX had not responded by press time.