[NEWS] Goldman Sachs holds $58.8 billion worth of Bitcoin NFTs

A filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has revealed that Goldman Sachs Group, a traditional Wall Street firm that was once considered a Bitcoin skeptic, actually holds $400 million worth of Bitcoin spot ETFs. 

According to a 13F filing filed on the 13th, Goldman Sachs holds seven of the 11 U.S.-based Bitcoin spot ETFs, among other holdings, with total assets of approximately $418.65 million as of June 30th. 

It is unclear whether these holdings were purchased at the direction of individual clients, but it is surprising that a traditional Wall Street financial firm that was previously considered skeptical of Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies actually holds cryptocurrencies. 

Goldman Sachs’ Bitcoin spot ETF position was about 7 million shares of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), valued at $238.6 million, followed by 1.5 million shares of Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin ETF (FBTC) and 940,000 shares of Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF (BTCO). These three Bitcoin spot ETFs make up the majority of Goldman Sachs’ holdings.

The firm also held shares in Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB), Wisdom Tree Bitcoin Fund (BTCW) and Ark 21Shares Bitcoin ETF.

To be sure, 13F filings should be read with some caution. They only show holdings and their values ​​as of the reporting date (June 30, in this case), and nothing about subsequent transactions.

The short positions were also not disclosed, so the full picture of the institution's overall investment strategy is unclear.

The filing comes days after Morgan Stanley made headlines when it allowed its advisors to pitch clients for investing in a Bitcoin spot ETF.

This marks a big change for the traditional financial giant, which has typically been hesitant to openly offer crypto products to its clients.

Executives have been skeptical of crypto assets

Previously, Goldman Sachs executives have been reluctant or skeptical about investing in Bitcoin.

In April, Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani, chief investment officer at Goldman Sachs Wealth Management Group, expressed skepticism about crypto assets as an asset class in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

Recently, CEO David Solomon told CNBC that Bitcoin could function as a store of value, similar to gold, and that he believes the reason behind this is that it may be worth improving the financial system, but that "it's not the same as guessing whether Bitcoin will be $70,000, $30,000, or $120,000."

Reference: SEC announcement
Image: Shutterstock

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