Goldman Sachs Has Made a $2.25 Billion ETF Deal. Bitcoin And Ethereum Funds Come With It

Goldman Sachs has agreed to acquire NEOS Investments for up to $2.25 billion, adding a fast-growing portfolio of options-based exchange-traded funds that includes products linked to Bitcoin and Ethereum.

The cash-and-equity transaction will bring $30 billion in assets across 19 ETFs into Goldman Sachs Asset Management and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, subject to regulatory approval and other customary conditions.

The deal is primarily an expansion of Goldman's active ETF business rather than a standalone crypto acquisition. But it gives the Wall Street bank an immediate presence in the market for funds that combine cryptocurrency exposure with options strategies designed to generate monthly income.

NEOS' lineup includes the Bitcoin High Income ETF, or BTCI, which seeks income while providing exposure to exchange-traded products that directly track Bitcoin. NEOS Investments said BTCI had about $1.1 billion in net assets in late July and held positions including BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust, or IBIT, and VanEck's Bitcoin ETF alongside U.S. Treasury bills and options.

The fund does not hold Bitcoin directly. It uses Bitcoin-linked exchange-traded products and options to generate income while retaining some exposure to movements in the cryptocurrency's price.

Goldman will also acquire the NEOS Boosted Bitcoin High Income ETF, or XBCI, which launched in February, and the NEOS Ethereum High Income ETF, or NEHI. NEOS reported that XBCI had more than $103 million in net assets in late July, while the firm's data showed NEHI had about $75 million.

Goldman has already been preparing its own Bitcoin income product. An April filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission shows the bank registered a proposed Goldman Sachs Bitcoin Premium Income ETF that would seek exposure to Bitcoin while using options to generate income. The fund had not launched as of the filing.

Goldman has not said whether the NEOS acquisition will affect those plans.

The broader attraction for the bank is NEOS' position in the rapidly expanding market for options-based income funds. Goldman Sachs said derivative income ETFs have grown to about $180 billion in assets, with the category recording compound annual growth of more than 70% since 2021, citing Morningstar data.

"As investor demand for active ETFs grows, NEOS' disciplined investment approach is highly complementary to our capabilities across buffer, managed outcome and income strategies," Goldman CEO David Solomon said in announcing the transaction.

The purchase follows another multibillion-dollar ETF deal by Goldman this year. The bank completed its acquisition of Innovator Capital Management in April, adding about $31 billion in assets across 171 ETFs focused on defined-outcome strategies.

The two acquisitions significantly expand Goldman's ETF footprint. Once the NEOS transaction closes, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Innovator and NEOS are expected to oversee more than $130 billion across their global ETF platforms, including about $80 billion in active ETFs.

That would make Goldman the eighth-largest active ETF manager based on assets as of June 30, according to Morningstar data cited by the bank.

The strategy also reflects Wall Street's broader effort to expand asset management businesses that can generate recurring fee revenue. Reuters reported that Goldman's asset and wealth management division generated $4.6 billion in net revenue during the second quarter, up 20% from a year earlier.

NEOS co-founders Troy Cates and Garrett Paolella will become partners at Goldman Sachs Asset Management after the transaction closes, while the rest of the company's team is also expected to join the bank.