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    Goldman Sachs shifts stance on cryptocurrencies with major investment in Bitcoin ETFs

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    Goldman Sachs, a leading international investment bank, has dramatically increased its investments in Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), despite previously expressing scepticism over cryptocurrencies. It told the United States Securities and Exchange Commission it holds $718m in Bitcoin ETFs, primarily through the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF by BlackRock. Additional holdings include $96m in Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund, $60m in the Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF, and $22m in Ether ETFs, among other investments. This comes as a significant shift in attitude from comparing cryptocurrencies to ‘tulip mania’ in the 1600s, calling them ‘not a serious investment’.

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    Big news! Goldman Sachs, a giant in the investment bank world, has decided to embrace Bitcoin. Despite being rather skeptical in the past, the bank now holds big bounties of Bitcoin ETFs.

    On November 14, Goldman Sachs informed the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it has a cool $718 million in Bitcoin ETFs. Talk about going big or going home!

    As part of this, they made a massive $461 million investment in what’s known as the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF by BlackRock. This is basically a tool that allows them to invest in Bitcoin without having to own the actual cryptocurrency, making it easier and sometimes safer to invest.

    In the last quarter alone, they’ve added $300 million more to their Bitcoin ETF wallet. This is a jump of 71% compared to the quarter before. Can anyone say Bitcoin bull?

    Rewinding the clock a bit, Goldman Sachs made its very first investment in Bitcoin ETFs during the second quarter of 2024, spending a whopping $418 million back in August.

    Aside from the iShares ETF, they’ve also got their fingers in other pies. They hold $96 million in Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund, $72 million in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF, and another $60 million in the Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF.

    And they’ve got a few more snacks in other ETFs too – like $22.5 million in Bitwise Bitcoin, $3 million in the ARK 21Shares, $4 million in the Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust, and a ‘little’ $800,000 in the WisdomTree Bitcoin Fund.

    Things get more interesting when you consider their investments into Ether ETFs, another kind of cryptocurrency. Goldman Sachs isn’t putting all its eggs in one basket – they’ve also got $22 million invested in Ether ETFs.

    This pretty much goes against everything Goldman Sachs was saying a few years ago. They called Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies “not an asset class” and said it wasn’t a good fit for their clients.

    Even when they opened a limited Bitcoin trading area in May 2021, key people like Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani, chief investment officer of Private Wealth Management, were still unsure about the whole crypto thing.

    In a chat with the Wall Street Journal in April, Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani said that they didn’t see cryptocurrency as a serious investment. She compared it to the craziness that was tulip mania in the 1600s and said, “We’re not believers in crypto”. Guess things have changed, huh?

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