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"Some of the biggest names on Wall Street are warming up to Bitcoin, a virtual currency that for nearly a decade has been consigned to the unregulated fringes of the financial world," the N.Y. Times' Nathaniel Popper reports:
Why it matters: "The moves ... mark a dramatic shift toward the mainstream for a digital token that has been known primarily for its underworld associations and status as a high-risk, speculative investment."
- What's new: "The parent company of the New York Stock Exchange [Intercontinental Exchange] has been working on an online trading platform that would allow large investors to buy and hold Bitcoin."
- "The news of the virtual exchange, which has not been reported before, came after Goldman Sachs went publicwith its intention to open a Bitcoin trading unit — most likely the first of its kind at a Wall Street bank."