Goldman Sachs, a renowned investment banking giant, is rapidly expanding its position in the cryptocurrency market. The bank amplified its Ether exchange-traded fund (ETF) holdings by an astounding 2,000% to $476 million in the final quarter of 2024. Simultaneously, it more than doubled its Bitcoin ETF portfolio to over $1.5 billion demonstrating its growing interest in digital currencies.
The monetary leviathan expanded its Ethereum ETF exposure from a mere $22 million to a whopping $476 million. This sizeable investment was split between BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) and the Fidelity Ethereum Fund (FETH), with a smaller $6.3 million stake in the Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHE). Goldman Sachs also enriched its Bitcoin ETF portfolio by 114% to a substantial $1.52 billion, according to its Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The stats reveal that Goldman Sachs significantly enhanced its exposure to the dominant digital currencies, Bitcoin and Ethereum, driven in part by their price ascension of 41% and 26.3% respectively in the fourth quarter. However, Goldman Sachs exhibited a shift in investment strategy, as it closed positions in Bitcoin ETFs offered by Bitwise, WisdomTree, Invesco, Galaxy, ARK, and 21Shares.
Goldman Sachs’s assertive entry into the spot crypto ETF sphere marks a significant shift given the bank’s previous criticism of the industry, stating that cryptocurrencies are “not a suitable investment” for their clients. However, the bank’s recent involvement in Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs underscores a broader adoption trend within Wall Street institutions, prompted by an increasingly friendly regulatory landscape.