Goldman Sachs and DRW Holdings Report Huge Investments in Crypto ETFs
In their latest 13F filings with the SEC, Goldman Sachs and DRW Holdings revealed huge investments in Bitcoin spot ETFs and Ethereum spot ETFs.
Goldman Sachs Invests Nearly Half a Billion USD in Bitcoin Spot ETFs
According to the latest 13F filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Wall Street banking giant Goldman Sachs revealed that it held approximately $418.65 million worth of Bitcoin spot ETFs as of June 30.
The largest investment was in BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust with 6.9 million shares worth $238.6 million. This makes Goldman Sachs the third-largest investor in the IBIT fund, behind only Millennium Management and Capula Management Ltd.
In addition, Goldman Sachs also owns 1.51 million shares of Fidelity's FBTC fund worth $79.5 million, along with 660,183 shares of Grayscale's Bitcoin ETF worth $35.1 million.
In addition, the list of Bitcoin spot ETFs that Goldman Sachs has invested in also includes $56.1 million in Invesco Galaxy's Bitcoin spot ETF, along with shares in other Bitcoin ETFs from Bitwise, WisdomTree, and Ark-21Shares.
After the market closed today, Goldman Sachs filed a 13F disclosing the following positions as of June 30:
$238.6 million iShares Bitcoin Trust (6,991,248 shares)
$79.5 million Fidelity Bitcoin ETF (1,516,302 shares)
$35.1 million Grayscale BTC (660,183 shares)
$56.1 million…
— MacroScope (@MacroScope17) August 13, 2024
According to ETF Store President Nate Geraci, the iShares Bitcoin ETF has attracted about $20.5 billion in capital, far surpassing other ETFs launched in the same year. Meanwhile, ETFs that do not invest in Bitcoin have attracted only $1.3 billion in capital, showing a clear difference and special interest from investors in Bitcoin-related funds. Notably, all four of the top ETFs in 2024 are spot Bitcoin funds.
iShares Bitcoin ETF has taken in approx $20.5bil this yr…
Out of *all* 375 new ETF launches in 2024, next closest non-spot btc ETF = $1.3bil.
Numbers are comical at this point.
Spot btc ETFs (IBIT, FBTC, ARKB, BITB) = top 4 launches of 2024.
Global X Russell 2000 ETF = 5th.
— Nate Geraci (@NateGeraci) August 14, 2024
BlackRock’s IBIT fund is the third-largest Bitcoin holder in the world, behind cryptocurrency exchange Binance and the mysterious Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto. More interestingly, Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas has predicted that Bitcoin spot ETFs in the US could soon surpass the number owned by the anonymous Bitcoin creator, Satoshi Nakamoto.
Didn’t realize US ETFs are on track to pass Satoshi in bitcoin held in October. BlackRock alone is already #3 and on pace to be #1 late next year, and will likely stay there for a very long time Ht @EdmondsonShaun pic.twitter.com/QGsO00zrxp— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) August 12, 2024
DRW Holdings leads the way with Grayscale’s Ethereum fund
Meanwhile, high-frequency trading firm DRW Holdings also just filed its 13F filing, revealing it holds at least $195 million in Bitcoin spot ETFs and Ethereum spot ETFs.
Chicago high-frequency trading company DRW Holdings disclosed that it currently holds at least more than $195 million in cryptocurrency ETFs, including more than $150 million in Grayscale ETH ETF (ETHE), which may be its first into ETH-related investments. Grayscale ETHE has…
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) August 14, 2024
Notably, DRW has invested more than $150 million in Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE), marking the company's first exposure to the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. This is also DRW's third-largest investment, accounting for 5.596%, after the S&P 500 tracking fund and the gold trust.
According to the 13F filing, DRW’s Ethereum spot ETF has three times more shares than its Bitcoin spot ETFs, while DRW’s Bitcoin investments are widely distributed among Ark and 21Shares, Bitwise, BlackRock, Fidelity, and Proshares.
In addition, Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE) shares were the most purchased stock by DRW Holdings in Q2/2024.
Since 2018, DRW has been increasingly involved in the cryptocurrency industry through its subsidiary Cumberland. The unit has been selected as a liquidity provider for many Bitcoin spot ETFs and recently received a “BitLicense” from the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) on June 17. On August 13, Cumberland also initiated the buying process by transferring 208.2 million USDT to CEX exchanges.
DRW's entry into the Ethereum ETF market could be a sign of growing institutional interest in Ethereum after the official approval of Ethereum spot ETFs by the SEC in late July 2024.
