Goldman Sachs increased its ETH ETF holdings by 2000% and BTC ETF holdings to $1.5 billion.

Author: Brayden Lindrea, CoinTelegraph; Translation: Wuzhu, Golden Finance

Investment bank Goldman Sachs increased its holdings of its spot Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF) by 2,000% in the fourth quarter of 2024, while also increasing its Bitcoin ETF reserves to over $1.5 billion.

According to the 13F filing submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission by the company on February 11, Goldman Sachs increased its Ethereum ETF exposure from $22 million to $476 million, almost evenly distributed between BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) and Fidelity’s Ethereum Fund (FETH), while also investing $6.3 million in the Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHE).

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

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

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

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

Goldman Sachs seems to have also liquidated Bitwise and WisdomTree’s bitcoin ETFs, as well as joint products from Invesco and Galaxy, and ARK and 21Shares.

Goldman Sachs made its first foray into the spot cryptocurrency ETF market in the second quarter of 2024, revealing the purchase of a $418 million Bitcoin ETF, further solidifying its larger position.

Goldman Sachs’ recent purchase of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs highlights the increasing trend of Wall Street institutions adopting cryptocurrencies, thanks to the increasingly favorable regulatory environment.

According to Bloomberg’s November report, the investment bank is also considering launching its own crypto platform for partners to trade financial instruments on the blockchain track.

However, since 2020, Goldman Sachs has been criticizing Bitcoin and the broader industry, calling cryptocurrencies not an asset class and “unsuitable” for client investment.

Last April, Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani, Chief Investment Officer of Goldman Sachs Private Wealth Management, also expressed a similar view when Goldman Sachs purchased the first batch of Bitcoin ETFs.

“We do not view it as an investment asset class,” Mossavar-Rahmani said at the time, comparing the recent crypto enthusiasm to the 17th-century tulip mania. “We do not believe in cryptocurrencies.”