Investment banking giant Goldman Sachs is “close to announcing” that it is the first major bank in the US to trade an over-the-counter (OTC) crypto transaction, per multiple reports.

The bank traded a non-deliverable bitcoin (BTC) option – a derivative tied to the BTC price that pays out in cash – with crypto merchant bank Galaxy Digital, CNBC reported today citing a statement.

Crypto investors use options to hedge risks or boost yields, and OTC transactions tend to be larger, privately negotiated trades, tailored to each party’s needs.

The two firms are also cited as saying that Goldman is taking a greater risk by taking the role of a principal in this particular transaction than it did with the exchange-based CME Group bitcoin products that the bank previously started trading.

Bloomberg further quoted Galaxy co-president Damien Vanderwilt as saying that the firm expects the trade to “open the door for other banks considering OTC as a conduit for trading digital assets.”

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