Goldman Sachs Increases Bitcoin ETF Holdings to $710 Million

Goldman Sachs has significantly increased its investment in Bitcoin ETFs since its last report, signaling that digital assets are increasingly appealing to traditional institutions.

According to a 13F filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the quarter ending September 30, 2024, Goldman Sachs, one of the Wall Street giants, is holding $710 million in cryptocurrency assets through various Bitcoin ETFs.

A 13F is a quarterly report required by the SEC for institutional investment managers with assets under management of more than $100 million.

Specifically, the SEC filing shows that Goldman Sachs has increased its positions in major Bitcoin ETFs, including:

The bank’s largest holding is in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), with 12.7 million shares (worth $461 million at the time of filing). This is an 83% increase from its previous report in August, when the bank disclosed holdings of 6.9 million shares, worth $281 million.

More than 1.7 million shares in Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin ETF (FBTC), worth $95.5 million, marked a 13% increase.

It increased its holdings in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) by 116%, bringing the total number of shares to more than 1.4 million, worth $71.8 million.

Increased its holdings in Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB) by 156%, totaling 650,961 shares worth $22.5 million.

Smaller investments in Bitcoin ETFs from Invesco Galaxy, WisdomTree, and ARK 21Shares were also reported.

With this increase, Goldman Sachs has become the second-largest holder of IBIT, behind only hedge fund Millennium Management, which leads with $844 million in holdings.

For investors and market observers, Goldman Sachs’ expansion of its Bitcoin ETF holdings is a strong signal of growing institutional interest in digital assets.

Goldman Sachs’ increased investment in Bitcoin ETFs comes amid record inflows into Bitcoin spot ETFs. Last week, BlackRock’s IBIT surpassed its long-standing gold holdings fund, the iShares Gold ETF (IAU), in terms of net assets, a remarkable feat considering IBIT was only launched in January this year.

The market’s recovery is attributed to expectations of a regulatory environment and a series of open crypto policies under the Trump administration, with commitments to support cryptocurrency mining and the establishment of a Bitcoin reserve.