Goldman Sachs (GS  ) announced it is seriously considering launching its own cryptocurrency as a potential stablecoin, after the investment bank significantly expanded its digital assets team and named a new unit chief. Matthew McDermott, Goldman's new digital asset global head, confirmed to CNBC on Thursday that the bank is exploring whether to launch its own digital asset: "We are exploring the commercial viability of creating our own fiat digital token, but it's early days as we continue to work through the potential use cases." McDermott said he is studying how blockchain can create savings in the inefficient repurchase or "repo" market that banks use to lend money to other banks, as well as credit and mortgage markets. He noted Goldman could partner with JPMorgan (JPM  ) and Facebook (FB  ) on future digital asset projects. McDermott added he plans to significantly grow the digital asset team, including doubling its workforce in Asia and Europe.

Here is the rest of the week in review:

INX, a cryptocurrency and security token exchange, on Monday filed to go public in the U.S. The Gibraltar-based firm filed an F-1 Form with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), now expecting the initial public offering (IPO) by year's end. Per the filing, INX priced 130 million INX ERC-20 tokens at 90 cents each for a maximum raise at $117 million, which would be the largest ever IPO in the digital asset industry. Investors will be able to buy INX tokens with coins and US dollars (USD). INX will accept purchases in USDC, Bitcoin (BTC), and Ethereum (ETH), only if the sale exceeds the minimum $7.5 million threshold. A cryptocurrency and security token exchange that hopes to operate in the US, INX has been trying to register with the SEC for over 2 years in order to offer a compliant token sale. In the filing, INX revealed a $3.7 million loss in 2019 and noted the public sale funds will help it launch a digital trading platform within 12 months.

BCB Group, a European financial services firm, struck a deal with Circle to integrate its platform and allow the USDC stablecoin to be available to institutional clients. The partnership announced Thursday will let BCB add elements of Circle's crypto finance platform to boost the efficiency of payments, clearing, and custody for business clients, allowing BCB's clients to gain access to USDC, the U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin from the CENTRE Consortium founded by crypto giants Circle and Coinbase in October 2018. BCB said USDC can help E.U.-based firms "mitigate negative risk" exposure through secure and efficient payments solutions. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire stated demand for dollar-linked stablecoins is growing rapidly and USDC will provide BCB clients with "critical" infrastructure for settlement.

Crypto prices climbed to $355 billion this week, continuing the sudden surge from last week. For the majors, Chainlink (LINK), Binance Coin (BNB), and Cardano (ADA) posted outsize gains, and all coins ended in the green. In the top 100, the biggest losers were Ampleforth (AMPL), down 40%, Nexo (NEXO), down 23%, and Celsius (CEL), down 15%. The biggest gainers were Band Protocol (BAND), up a whopping 263%, Decentraland (MANA), up 148%, and Balancer (BAL), up 145%. Next week traders will see if Bitcoin can break above $12,000.

The author owns a small amount of BTC.