Goldman Sachs is stepping up its efforts in the crypto and blockchain space, making Mathew McDermott, a managing director at the bank, global head of digital assets and giving him the green light to double his team's headcount, according to CNBC.
London-based McDermott replaced Justin Schmidt in the role last month, moving from his job running Goldman's internal funding operations, says CNBC.
He is expanding the digital assets team, making hires in Asia and Europe, most notably bringing in Oli Harris, formerly head of digital assets strategy at rival JPMorgan Chase, where he worked on the JPM Coin.
McDermott tells CNBC that Goldman is looking into its fiat digital token, although he stresses that "it's early days".
In the longer term, McDermott has big ambitions for his new beat, telling CNBC: "In the next five to 10 years, you could see a financial system where all assets and liabilities are native to a blockchain, with all transactions natively happening on chain. So what you’re doing today in the physical world, you just do digitally, creating huge efficiencies."