Goldman Sachs to lead the Coinbase IPO

Coinbase has tapped Goldman Sachs to lead its upcoming initial public offering, per a report by Business Insider that cited industry sources published Friday.

• Coinbase announced Thursday it had filed preliminary documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in preparation for a public offering.

• The cryptocurrency exchange picked Goldman despite the fact that some teams at the investment bank have offered less-than-bullish commentary on bitcoin, including a report in May that outlined why bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are “not an asset class.”

• Earlier this week, the firm also published a memo to clients saying that bitcoin poses no serious thread to gold’s status as a last-resort monetary commodity.

• Nonetheless, Goldman has been active in the cryptocurrency industry from early on, including investments in Circle, Bitgo and other leading companie