Quick Takes
- Goldman Sachs’s latest 13F filing with the US SEC shows that the investment bank increased its holdings in spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs in Q4 2024 to be valued at more than $1.5 billion.
- The Wall Street behemoth holds approximately 24.07 million shares ($1.27 billion) of BlackRock’s IBIT, 3.5 million shares ($288 million) in Fidelity’s FBTC, and 1.4 million shares ($3.6 million) in Grayscale’s GBTC.
- Goldman Sachs also increased its Ethereum ETF holdings, with disclosures showing $482 million worth of shares in BlackRock’s ETHA, Fidelity’s FETH, and Grayscale’s ETHE.
- Institutional investors are increasing their exposure to crypto-backed securities, aligning with Trump’s return to the White House and his plans to implement a friendlier and accommodative regulatory environment for the digital asset class.
American investment banking giant Goldman Sachs has substantially increased its Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) exchange-traded funds (ETF) allocations in Q4 2024, according to its latest 13F filing made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This brings its total crypto holdings to well over $1.5 billion.
13F is a regulatory filing made by investment managers in the United States holding over $100 million worth of security assets each quarter.
Goldman Sachs Holds Bitcoin And Ether ETFs Worth Over $1.5 Billion
As of December 31, Goldman Sachs owns 24.07 million shares ($1.27 billion) in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT), representing an 88% increase over the previous quarter. It also upped its holdings in the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) by 105% in the last quarter after purchasing 3.5 million shares worth $288 million. The bank also owns $3.6 million worth of shares in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF (GBTC).
Meanwhile, the bank also increased its Ethereum holdings by 2,000% in the fourth quarter of 2024. Spot Ether ETF exposure has risen from $22 million to $476 million, with investments split between BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) and Fidelity Ethereum Fund (FETH). An additional $6.3 million was put into the Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHE).
The document also showed the bank closing its minor positions in Bitcoin ETFs from ARK Invest (ARKB), Bitwise (BITB), Grayscale’s mini Bitcoin trust, Invesco Galaxy (BITCO), and WisdomTree (BTCW).
Institutional Investors Boost Crypto Exposure On The Back of Trump’s Support For The Industry
The world’s ninth-largest investment bank boosted its Bitcoin and Ethereum exposure partly due to the recent surge in market prices, which saw BTC experience a 40.6% rise in value, while ETH gained 26.2% in Q4 2024. The rally was driven by Trump’s election victory, the promise that his administration would bring in a favorable regulatory environment, and growing institutional interest in large-cap digital assets.
Bitcoin, in particular, saw its value surpass the $100,000 mark for the first time in history, even setting an all-time high of $109,000 just weeks before Trump was inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States.
On the contrary, Ether’s value relative to Bitcoin has fallen over 13% over the past month, even hitting a 4-year low. This can be attributed to technical issues faced by the Ethereum network and increasing institutional demand for BTC.
Goldman Sachs’ larger Bitcoin ETF positions build on its initial exposure to the investment products in the second quarter of 2024, where it disclosed purchasing $418 million worth of shares in BlackRock’s IBIT and Fidelity’s FBTC, alongside minor exposure to other BTC-backed securities trading on Wall Street.
According to data provided by Fintel, at the end of Q3 2024, BlackRock’s IBIT led the chart among other spot Bitcoin ETFs with nearly 700 institutional investors holding 160.2 million shares. Goldman Sachs and Wall Street hedge fund Millenium Management are the largest shareholders of IBIT.
Analysts at Bernstein noted that the crypto ETF market could see an influx of capital in 2025 as most institutional investors are re-examining their anti-crypto stance.
Goldman Sachs To Launch Blockchain-Based Trading Platform By 2026
In November, Bloomberg reported that Goldman Sachs was in talks with its partners to form a new company focused on creating and trading tokenized financial instruments on a blockchain network.
Mathew McDermott, the bank’s global head of digital assets said that the spinout firm is expected to launch in the next 12 to 18 months and is pending regulatory approvals. He also noted that Goldman Sachs plans to create a marketplace for tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) focused on the American and European debt markets. This comes after the bank’s clients expressed interest in crypto-based products.
McDermott added that the bank will prioritize financial institutions over retail investors for its tokenized RWAs and will rely exclusively on permissioned blockchains. According to data provided by RWA.xyz, tokenized US treasury debt commands approximately $2.4 billion in total value locked (TVL) as of December 2024.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $96,190 – down nearly 2% in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, Ether (ETH) is changing hands at $2,628 – down 2.8% over the past 24 hours.
