Goldman Sachs plans to offer options trading in Ether cryptocurrency

Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation, has seen high volatility this year.(Image: Shutterstock)

Goldman Sachs may offer options and futures trading in Ether, the cryptocurrency linked to the Ethereum blockchain.

Mathew McDermott, the head of digital assets at Goldman Sachs, told Bloomberg that the investment bank might offer F&O trading in Ether in the coming months.

He added that Goldman Sachs is planning to facilitate transactions via exchange-traded notes tracking bitcoin.

"We've actually seen a lot of interest from clients who are eager to trade as they find these levels as a slightly more palatable entry point," McDermott told the business news website.

"We see it as a cleansing exercise to reduce some of the leverage and the excess in the system, especially from a retail perspective," he said.

Goldman Sachs has recently invested in two cryptocurrency startups - Blockdaemon and Coin Metrics, Bloomberg reported.

Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation, has seen high volatility this year. According to Reuters, the price of bitcoin is 40 percent up from last year but still much lower than its mid-April 2021 peak of over $60,000.

Bitcoin's price rose above $40,000 on June 14, after tweets by Tesla founder Elon Musk suggested that the electric vehicles maker might resume bitcoin transactions.