Goldman Sachs explores Bitcoin-backed loans through tri-party repo deals: CoinDesk

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) along some other U.S. banks explore ways to use Bitcoin (BTC-USD) as collateral for cash loans to institutions without touching the digital token, three people familiar with the matter told CoinDesk. This kind of transaction reflects a try-party repurchase agreement, whereby an entity borrows funds by selling securities with an agreement to repurchase them, involving a third-party agent. "Goldman was working on getting approved for lending against collateral and tri-party repo," one of the people told CoinDesk. "And if they had a liquidation agent, then they were just doing secured lending without ever having bitcoin touch their balance sheet." Recall towards the end of July, in an effort to meet client demand for crypto-related product offerings, Goldman Sachs's (GS) primary brokerage unit started clearing and settling crypto ETPs for a limited number of clients in Europe. Additionally, Silvergate (NYSE:SI) and Signature Bank (NASDAQ:SBNY) both recently announced Bitcoin-backed cash