The institutional embrace of cryptocurrency is accelerating at a pace few could have predicted. This week brought two watershed developments: Goldman Sachs, one of Wall Street’s most influential investment banks, announced a client call dedicated to Bitcoin, while on-chain data revealed that Ethereum addresses with a non-zero balance have surged past 40 million — a fourfold increase from the network’s all-time high in early 2018.
TL;DR
- Goldman Sachs invited clients to a May 27 call titled “Implications of Current Policies for Inflation, Gold, and Bitcoin”
- Ethereum addresses with non-zero balance surpassed 40 million, up 350% from the 2018 ATH
- Bitcoin non-zero addresses grew from 28.2 million to 29.8 million in 2020 despite price declines
- Paul Tudor Jones revealed personal and professional Bitcoin investments in his “Great Monetary Inflation” thesis
- Global government debt has doubled from $30 trillion in 2007, strengthening Bitcoin’s store-of-value narrative
Goldman Sachs Takes Bitcoin Seriously
Multinational investment bank Goldman Sachs will be hosting a client call on May 27 entitled “Implications of Current Policies for Inflation, Gold, and Bitcoin.” The invitation was first shared publicly by Mike Dudas, CEO of The Block, and quickly reverberated across the cryptocurrency community.
The very inclusion of Bitcoin alongside gold in a Goldman Sachs presentation titled around inflation policy represents a significant milestone for the asset class. As one institutional trends commentator noted, “The fact that BTC is included tells you they are seeing substantial client interest.”
However, the call does not guarantee a bullish stance from Goldman. Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani, Chief Investment Officer of the Investment Strategy Group at Goldman Sachs, previously expressed skepticism about Bitcoin. In a 2018 report, she wrote that cryptocurrencies “do not fulfill any of the three traditional roles of a currency” and that they “would not retain value in their current incarnation.”
Regardless of the bank’s ultimate conclusion, the fact that one of the world’s most powerful financial institutions is dedicating resources to formally discussing Bitcoin with its wealth management clients signals a seismic shift in institutional attitudes.
Ethereum’s Growing User Base Defies Price Action
While Bitcoin captures institutional headlines, Ethereum has been quietly building an expanding base of users. According to on-chain analytics from Glassnode, the number of Ethereum addresses with a non-zero balance has surged to over 40 million — a staggering 350 percent increase from the number of addresses during ETH’s all-time high in early 2018.
This divergence between price and network adoption is particularly striking. When Ethereum traded near $1,400 at its peak, far fewer people held the asset. Now, at around $202, the network has four times as many participants. This pattern mirrors what analysts have long argued: that fundamental adoption often precedes price appreciation by months or even years.
Bitcoin is seeing similar trends. The number of non-zero Bitcoin addresses grew from 28.2 million on January 1 to 29.8 million by April 14, 2020, even as the price declined from its pre-COVID highs. On May 21, there were more than 922,000 active Bitcoin addresses on the network, according to Glassnode data.
The Macro Backdrop: Global Debt and the Bitcoin Thesis
The Goldman Sachs call and the growing adoption metrics are occurring against a backdrop of unprecedented monetary expansion. According to Dan Held of Kraken, global government debt has doubled from approximately $30 trillion in 2007, before the Global Financial Crisis, to well over $60 trillion today — and that figure continues to climb rapidly as governments around the world launch massive stimulus programs to combat the economic fallout from COVID-19.
This debt explosion is precisely the macro environment that Bitcoin bulls like Paul Tudor Jones have been pointing to. In his widely circulated research note titled “The Great Monetary Inflation,” the legendary hedge fund manager — worth over $5 billion and regarded as one of Wall Street’s most respected macro thinkers — announced that he would be investing in Bitcoin both personally and professionally.
Jones argued that the unprecedented money printing by central banks around the world is creating a “great monetary inflation” that will erode the value of fiat currencies. In this environment, Bitcoin’s fixed supply cap of 21 million coins makes it an attractive hedge against currency debasement.
Market Snapshot
As of May 24, Bitcoin was trading at approximately $8,790 with a market capitalization of $161.6 billion, according to CoinMarketCap. Ethereum sat at $202.37 with a market cap of approximately $22.5 billion. Both assets were down for the week, with BTC declining roughly 10 percent and ETH showing similar weakness.
Despite the short-term price weakness, the convergence of institutional interest from firms like Goldman Sachs, the steady growth in on-chain adoption metrics, and the macroeconomic tailwinds from global monetary expansion paint a compelling long-term picture for cryptocurrency.
Why This Matters
The events of this week represent an inflection point. When Goldman Sachs — the firm that once dismissed Bitcoin — starts inviting clients to dedicated crypto calls, it means the institutional floodgates are beginning to open. Combine this with Paul Tudor Jones’s public endorsement and the explosive growth in on-chain adoption, and the narrative is clear: cryptocurrency is transitioning from a speculative niche to a legitimate asset class in the eyes of traditional finance.
The growing number of Ethereum addresses suggests that the DeFi ecosystem and broader Ethereum usage are attracting users at an accelerating rate, even without a corresponding price surge. This kind of fundamental growth, often invisible to those focused solely on price charts, is typically the foundation upon which the next major market cycle is built.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Always do your own research before making investment decisions.
goldman hosting a call called “implications of current policies for inflation, gold, and bitcoin” in 2020. two years later they launched a crypto trading desk. make of that what you will
eth addresses with non-zero balance passing 40M is a 4x from the 2018 ATH. the user growth here is massively underpriced.
paul tudor jones going public with btc allocations in his “great monetary inflation” thesis was the real signal here. goldman is just following client demand
^ agree, PTJ moving the needle way more than some goldman internal call. he has actual skin in the game
global gov debt doubling from $30T since 2007 and people wonder why btc exists. the macro case writes itself