Goldman Sachs Expands into Bitcoin Income ETFs with $2.25 Billion NEOS Acquisition

Finance Goldman Sachs Expands into Bitcoin Income ETFs with $2.25 Billion NEOS Acquisition

The $2.25 billion acquisition significantly boosts Goldman’s ETF derivative platform to $130 billion in total assets, positioning it against BlackRock's competing BITA fund, according to an analyst.

By Olivier Acuna | Edited by Nikhilesh De 38 min ago 3 min read Make preferred on

Goldman Sachs has reached an agreement to acquire NEOS Investments, the company managing the $1.1 billion BTCI bitcoin synthetic ETF, in a deal comprising cash and equity that could value NEOS at up to $2.25 billion, pending regulatory approval and performance benchmarks, with the transaction expected to finalize in early 2027.

• BTCI, which does not directly hold bitcoin, employs a covered-call strategy on bitcoin exchange-traded products (ETPs) to achieve a yield of approximately 27%. However, it has experienced a significant decline of about 43% over the last year and has an expense ratio of 0.99%.
• This acquisition allows Goldman to tap into a $30 billion options-based ETF platform across 19 funds. When combined with previous acquisitions, this will elevate its total ETF assets to over $130 billion, as it competes with other players like BlackRock in the rapidly growing derivative income ETF market.

Launched in October 2024, BTCI has quickly surpassed $1 billion in assets within two years, as noted by Eric Balchunas, a senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg.

Goldman Sachs outlined the acquisition in a statement, indicating that the deal involves performance targets and is designed to enhance their ETF management capabilities.

BTCI generates income through spot bitcoin ETPs and sells call options against those holdings to provide monthly distributions, but it does not directly own bitcoin. Investors benefit from the yield but miss out on some potential gains when bitcoin prices increase, Balchunas explained.

Balchunas also remarked that this acquisition clarifies why Goldman had not proceeded with its previously filed bitcoin covered call ETF product.

On April 14, Goldman registered the Goldman Sachs Bitcoin Premium Income ETF with the SEC, which proposes a similar covered call strategy. Balchunas commented, "Nowww I get why GS never launched the BTC covered call product they filed months ago. Better to leapfrog BlackRock's $BITA vs me too?"

According to a senior ETF analyst who requested anonymity, this acquisition demonstrates Goldman's intent to broadly expand its ETF business, emphasizing that BTCI is just one of nearly 20 funds in NEOS's portfolio. "If anything, it shows that bitcoin is just part of the financial world, alongside stocks, bonds, etc." As of June 30, 2026, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, along with Innovator from Goldman Sachs Asset Management and NEOS, manages over $130 billion in ETF assets, as per the Wall Street bank’s announcement.

In June, BlackRock introduced its own bitcoin income ETF, BITA, on Nasdaq, ahead of Goldman’s filing. BITA aims for an annual yield of 15-25% and sells covered calls on 25-35% of its IBIT holdings, with a lower expense ratio of 0.65%.

BTCI has seen its shares drop from a 52-week high of $65.87 to around $28.40 over the past year, reflecting a decline of 42.55%, as reported by Bloomberg terminal data. Additionally, the SEC prospectus for BTCI notes that its distributions may partly represent a return of capital rather than net investment income, a consideration for income-focused investors.

Goldman's acquisition of NEOS not only provides access to BTCI but also integrates a $30 billion options-based ETF platform across 19 funds, one of the industry's rapidly expanding segments. With its existing $40 billion in options-based ETF assets and the Innovator Capital Management acquisition announced in December, Goldman is set to oversee more than $130 billion in total ETF assets, ranking it eighth among active ETF managers globally.

Following the deal's closure, NEOS co-founders Troy Cates and Garrett Paolella will join Goldman as partners.

The derivative income ETF sector has grown to approximately $180 billion in assets across the industry, compounding at over 70% annually since 2021, according to Morningstar. Goldman is strategically entering this market growth rather than attempting to build it organically.