A report by Bloomberg on December 21st confirmed that cryptocurrencies are gaining a foothold in the mainstream market. The Goldman Sachs Group Inc., one of the biggest Wall Street firms, plans to set up a new trading desk to incorporate digital currencies like bitcoin into their markets. No official commencement date has yet been released, as technical implementation strategies are still being discussed. The bank is naturally concerned with security and the holding mechanism of the assets, but may have the business up and running mid-way through 2018, if not sooner.

The announcement follows hard on the heels of the decision by Chicago futures traders to add bitcoin to their market currencies, and puts the bank in the forefront of mainstream acceptance of the situation. Goldman Sachs already number among the handful of mainstream banks clearing the futures deals, despite what some sceptics perceive as frenzied crypto-bubble market activity.

A team is currently being assembled in New York, according to one source. While they haven\'t yet decided where exactly the desk will be housed, one option is for it to operate in the strategic investments sector. Alternatively, systematic trading is conducted electronically in the FICC unit (Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities), which might offer another option.