Goldman Sachs Reveals Over $400M Investment in Spot Bitcoin ETFs, Regulatory Filing Indicates

Key Insights

• As of June 30, Goldman Sachs held approximately $418.65 million in spot bitcoin ETFs, according to an SEC filing.
• The bulk of these investments are concentrated in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT).
• Despite earlier skepticism from Goldman Sachs executives regarding bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, the firm has increased its exposure to these digital assets.

Goldman Sachs (GS), a Wall Street heavyweight historically viewed as cautious about bitcoin, has disclosed a noteworthy position in spot bitcoin (BTCUSD) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in a recent 13F filing. This document reveals the firm’s holdings across seven of the eleven U.S.-based bitcoin ETFs, totaling nearly $418.65 million as of June 30.

It remains unclear whether these holdings were acquired on behalf of private clients or as part of the firm's own investment strategy. Efforts to obtain comments from Goldman Sachs were unsuccessful.

Goldman Sachs' Bitcoin ETF Portfolio

The most substantial holding reported was close to 7 million shares in BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), valued at $238.6 million. Additionally, Goldman Sachs owned about 1.5 million shares of Fidelity's Wise Origin Bitcoin ETF (FBTC) and approximately 940,000 shares of Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF (BTCO), rounding out the top three bitcoin ETF positions.

The firm also maintained stakes in Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB), WisdomTree Bitcoin Fund (BTCW), and Ark 21Shares Bitcoin ETF.

It is important to interpret 13F filings with caution, as they reflect holdings only as of the reporting date and do not account for transactions made afterward or reveal short positions, which may offer a partial view of the overall investment strategy.

This disclosure follows closely on the heels of Morgan Stanley's recent decision to permit its advisors to recommend bitcoin ETFs to clients unsolicited, marking a significant shift for traditional financial institutions.

Goldman Sachs' Historical Perspective on Bitcoin

Historically, Goldman Sachs executives have expressed skepticism about bitcoin's investment potential. In April, Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani, Chief Investment Officer of Goldman Sachs Wealth Management, voiced doubts about cryptocurrency as a viable asset class in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

More recently, CEO David Solomon shared with CNBC that while he acknowledges bitcoin’s potential as a store of value akin to gold and sees promise in the underlying blockchain technology to enhance financial systems, he remains cautious about speculating on bitcoin’s price fluctuations, stating, "that’s different in speculating whether Bitcoin is going to be $70,000, $30,000, or $120,000."

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