“We constantly monitor developments in the digital currency space and will continue to have a dialog with our clients on their needs and intentions in this market.”

If we remember last week, Barclays have recently led a study in which researchers used epidemic style modelling to trace how the spread of cryptocurrency across the world might resonate with the spread of a disease. The research found that using this style of modelling produced significant similarities in which comparisons could be drawn between disease behaviour and the behaviour of cryptocurrencies. Whilst this isn’t entirely relevant, this study did suggest that Barclays may have an underlying motivation for studying cryptocurrency in this way. At first, it just seemed like a novel study aimed to make news headlines, but with further news from the bank today, it does seem that Barclays could be on to something very beneficial for cryptocurrency. Barclays is a British multinational investment bank, it operates in 40 countries, but primary operations are based within the UK . According to the Barclays UK website, the bank has 24 million customers in the UK specifically. The news out today, suggests that Barclays may be opening a crypto-trading desk. According to Bloomberg, the bank has been researching their customers interest in their involvement with a crypto-trading desk, which could become an integrated business on wall street. Thus far, their research is only primary and only really skims the surface, with no real plans in action as of yet, but their interest in this area does open up a fascinating world of opportunities. According to Bloomberg, a spokesperson from Barclays, Andrew Smith has said:We know Goldman Sachs are planning on establishing a crypto-trading desk, which could be up and running as soon as June, according to Bloomberg- https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-21/goldman-is-said-to-be-building-a-cryptocurrency-trading-desk so, are Barclays going to follow their footsteps? It is very interesting that Barclays seem to be establishing efforts to deal in this area. Moreover, their intricate level of research is quite respectable in that it does seem they want to expand into the crypto-universe, but are doing so in a timely manner, in order to really ensure they know their space and ultimately, that they operate within the best interests of their customers. Barclays are the first investment bank in Europe to establish interest in this area. Perhaps they are literally just doing research to keep their research teams busy, or maybe, they are discovering a new world, through the behaviours of their customers. If this is the case, we expect to hear more news from Barclays bank over the next few months, maybe they are onto something here.