Banking giant Goldman Sachs has unveiled a whopping $2.3 billion in Bitcoin ETF exposure in its latest 13F filing. This represents a $710 million increase compared to the fourth quarter of 2024.
Notably, iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) accounts for the vast majority of Goldman's Bitcoin exposure (roughly $1.9 billion).
The banking behemoth also holds $374 million worth of the shares of Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC).
On top of that, it has negligible exposure to the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF (GBTC).
As reported by U.Today, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon recently described Bitcoin as an "interesting speculative asset" in an interview with CNBC. He also opined that the cryptocurrency would not pose a threat to the U.S. dollar.
Godfrey BenjaminHowever, the bank cannot hold cryptocurrencies due to regulatory constraints, according to Solomon.
Apart from Goldman, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, and other major banks also previously purchased shares of spot Bitcoin ETFs on behalf of their clients.
Goldman Sachs initially revealed holding $418 million worth of Bitcoin ETFs last August in its regulatory filing for the second quarter.
Prior to this, Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani, Goldman Sachs’ CIO of Asset & Wealth Management, stirred up some controversy after claiming that the bank did not view Bitcoin as an investment asset class. She also said that the bank's clients were not showing a lot of interest in crypto. Last March, the head of the bank's digital asset division said that the retail sector was primarily responsible for the cryptocurrency rally that took place in the first quarter of 2024.
In 2021, the bank restarted its cryptocurrency trading desk after initially shelving it during the 2018 bear market.
Dan Burgin
Vladislav Sopov