Goldman Sachs has increased its Bitcoin ETF holdings considerably, as revealed in its Thursday 13F filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
According to its latest report for the quarter ending September 30, the multinational investment bank holds U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund shares worth around $710 million.
For investors, Goldman Sachs increasing its Bitcoin ETF holdings is a strong sign that institutional demand in cryptocurrencies is gathering momentum.
Goldman Sachs Ramps Up Bitcoin ETF Holdings
Goldman Sachs, despite being previously critical of Bitcoin, is now disclosing significant holdings in Bitcoin exchange-traded funds.
In a Nov. 14 filing with the SEC, the financial services company revealed that it holds positions in eight out of the 11 BTC ETFs in the United States. Goldman Sachs’ largest spot Bitcoin ETF holdings were 12.7 million shares of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, worth $461 million. This marks an over 82% increase from its last filing in August of 6.9 million shares, valued then at $281 million.
Goldman Sachs is now the second largest holder of the IBIT fund, behind Millennium Management.
The bank’s latest quarterly holdings report also disclosed expanding its positions in other major Bitcoin ETFs. Goldman Sachs now holds more than 1.7 million shares in Fidelity’s FBTC, worth $95.5 million — representing a 12% increase.
The investment bank also boosted its stake in Grayscale’s GBTC by 115%, bringing its holdings to over 1.4 million shares worth $72 million. Furthermore, Goldman’s shares in Bitwise’s BITB now stand at 650,961, valued at $23 million.
The increase in Goldman Sach’s spot BTC ETF investments comes amid astonishing success for the newly launched products. Just last week, BlackRock’s IBIT overtook its long-established iShares Gold fund in assets under management — a huge milestone given that IBIT debuted only in January.
Goldman Sachs Was Once A Bitcoin Skeptic
Before foraying into Bitcoin ETFs in Q2 of 2024, Goldman Sachs was widely known for its harsh criticism of the flagship crypto. Back in 2020, the bank blasted Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, contending that they are “not an asset class” and didn’t qualify as a “suitable investment” for its customers.
Despite Goldman Sachs launching its BTC derivatives trading desk in May 2021, some of its top executives, including the chief investment officer of the bank’s Wealth Management unit Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani, continued to be skeptical of crypto.
Sharmin told the Wall Street Journal in April that Goldman’s clients were not interested in crypto. “We do not think it is an investment asset class. We’re not believers in crypto,” she posited at the time.
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