Goldman Sachs Increases ETH ETF Holdings by 2000%, BTC ETF Increases to $1.5 billion

Author: Brayden Lindrea, CoinTelegraph; Translated by: Wuzhu, Golden Finance

Investment bank Goldman Sachs increased its spot Ethereum Exchange-Trading Fund (ETF) holdings by 2,000% in the fourth quarter of 2024, while increasing its Bitcoin ETF reserves to more than $1.5 billion.

Goldman Sachs increased its Ethereum ETF exposure from $22 million to $476 million, almost evenly distributed to BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) and Fidelity Ethereum Fund (FETH), while investing $6.3 million in the Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHE).

Goldman Sachs also increased its Bitcoin ETF holdings by 114% to $1.52 billion. It purchased nearly $1.28 billion worth of iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) shares, up 177% from the third quarter, while also buying $288 million worth of Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) shares.

Goldman Sachs reported in the fourth quarter that it holds a $234.7 million Fidelity Ethereum ETF. Source: SEC

The filing shows that investment managers holding securities worth more than $100 million must submit a quarterly document that shows Goldman Sachs also owns a $3.6 million Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC).

CoinGecko data shows that the increased exposure takes into account the market price increase of BTC and ETH, with BTC and ETH rising 41% and 26.3% respectively from the beginning to the end of the fourth quarter.

Goldman Sachs also appears to have closed its Bitcoin ETFs from Bitwise and WisdomTree, as well as joint products from Invesco and Galaxy, as well as ARK and 21Shares.

Goldman Sachs first entered the spot cryptocurrency ETF market in the second quarter of 2024, when it disclosed its purchase of $418 million worth of Bitcoin ETF, which further consolidated its larger position.

Goldman Sachs’ recent purchase of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs highlights the growing trend of institutional cryptocurrencies adoption on Wall Street, thanks to an increasingly favorable regulatory environment.

The investment bank is also considering launching its own crypto platform for partners to trade financial instruments on the blockchain track, Bloomberg reported in November.

However, since 2020, Goldman Sachs has been criticizing Bitcoin and the broader industry, saying cryptocurrencies are not an asset class and are “not suitable for” customer investment.

Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani, chief investment officer of Goldman Sachs Private Wealth Management, expressed a similar view last April when Goldman Sachs purchased the first batch of Bitcoin ETFs.

“We don’t think it’s an investment asset class,” Mossavar-Rahmani said at the time, comparing his recent crypto enthusiasm to the 17th-century tulip fanaticism. “We don’t believe in cryptocurrencies.”