Goldman Sachs Reveals $418M in Spot Bitcoin ETF Holdings in Latest Quarterly Filing

Highlights:

• Goldman Sachs holds $418 million in Bitcoin ETFs, becoming a major institutional player.
• Goldman Sachs is the third-largest holder of BlackRock’s IBIT, with $238.6 million.
• Institutional investment in spot BTC ETFs has surged, with 500+ institutions involved.

Goldman Sachs, a leading global investment banking and securities firm, holds approximately $418.65 million in US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) shares as of June 30, according to its quarterly 13F filing with the SEC on August 13. The 13F filing disclosed that Goldman Sachs held $238.6 million in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) with 6,991,248 shares. According to the data from Fintel, Goldman Sachs is the third-largest holder of the IBIT fund, following Millennium Management and Capula Management Ltd.

It also invested $79.5 million in Fidelity Bitcoin ETF, acquiring 1,516,302 shares, and $35.1 million in Grayscale BTC, with 660,183 shares. The investment manager also held $299,900 in ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (5,000 shares), $56.1 million in Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF (940,443 shares), $8.3 million in Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (253,961 shares), and $749,469 in WisdomTree Bitcoin ETF (11,773 shares). The bank now provides client exposure to at least 7 of the 11 Bitcoin ETFs.

Investment managers, including banks and hedge funds, must file Form 13F with the securities regulator quarterly if they manage over $100 million. This reporting follows Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon’s CNBC interview, where he described Bitcoin as “speculative” but comparable to gold as a “store of value.”

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

Goldman Sachs Joins JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley in Expanding Crypto Offerings

Like JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon, Goldman Sachs’ David Solomon has not previously endorsed crypto. However, both banking giants have significant institutional exposure to cryptocurrencies and digital assets. 

Onyx, developed by a bank, is a blockchain platform aimed at creating advanced financial ecosystems. It enables the smooth exchange of value, digital assets, and information between participants seeking to modernize and enhance the efficiency of financial transactions through blockchain technology.

Goldman Sachs is expanding its crypto offerings to include 3 tokenization projects, according to Fortune. Meanwhile, JP Morgan created Onyx, a blockchain platform for digital asset exchange. Moreover, Morgan Stanley allowed its 15,000 investment advisors to offer BTC ETFs to its clients, according to CNBC‘s August report. The trend shows that institutional offerings in digital assets have increased over the years. Regulated investment managers expanding their portfolios in this emerging asset class signals positive momentum for its adoption.

Institutional Investment in Spot BTC ETFs Soars

Institutional investment in spot BTC ETFs has recently surged, with over 500 institutions allocating funds to these products. In just the first six months, BlackRock’s IBIT has become the third-largest Bitcoin holder and achieves daily trading volumes of $4.2 million.

On August 13, spot BTC ETFs have seen $39 million in inflows. BlackRock’s IBIT received $34.6 million, Fidelity’s FBTC $22.6 million, Bitwise’s BITB $16.5 million, while Grayscale’s GBTC experienced $28.6 million in outflows.

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

Capula, one of Europe’s largest hedge funds, disclosed $464 million in spot bitcoin ETF holdings in its recent 13F filing. Its largest positions were in BlackRock’s and Fidelity’s spot bitcoin funds. Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s value gained 3.15% in the past 24 hours to trade at around $60,906 at the time of writing, according to CoinMarketCap.