The head of digital assets at Goldman Sachs recently expressed amazement at the success of Bitcoin ETFs, highlighting a significant shift after years of doubt regarding the cryptocurrency from the Wall Street giant.
Let’s see all the details below.
Goldman Sachs celebrates the success of Bitcoin ETFs
As anticipated, Goldman Sachs adopts an increasingly optimistic tone regarding Bitcoin, calling the new spot Bitcoin ETFs a “surprising success” after years of uncertainty.
During the Consensus 2024 conference, hosted by CoinDesk, the global head of digital assets at Goldman, Mathew McDermott made important statements.
Specifically, it indicated that the approval of spot ETFs on Bitcoin by the SEC at the beginning of this year marked an “important psychological turning point” for the entire sector.
McDermott stated that the Bitcoin ETF was surprisingly well received, indicating a change of course from Goldman which had previously dismissed the idea of a Bitcoin ETF.
Since then, the bank has been actively involved, acting as an authorized participant for the bitcoin ETF IBIT by BlackRock, launched in January.
This ETF has quickly become the largest in the world, surpassing 20 billion dollars in assets faster than any other ETF in history.
The positive comments from McDermott come after the enormous influx of investments in US spot Bitcoin ETFs, suggesting a growing acceptance from Wall Street.
This warm embrace of Bitcoin ETFs occurred after years of skepticism from traditional financial giants like Goldman. However, the extraordinary demand has converted many former opponents.
McDermott highlighted the growing interest from retail and institutional investors in these regulated investment vehicles. Prominent companies like BlackRock and Fidelity now manage spot Bitcoin ETFs, handling billions in assets.
It is evident that these products are opening the doors of Wall Street money to access Bitcoin. Furthermore, Goldman is expanding the offering through derivatives, research, and other initiatives.
These comments indicate an increasing involvement of traditional finance with Bitcoin. With traditional financial institutions like Goldman and BlackRock now praising Bitcoin ETFs, a broader adoption seems inevitable.
Record inflow into Bitcoin ETFs: BlackRock and Fidelity leading
On May 28, the exchange-traded fund (ETF) spot of Bitcoin saw a net inflow of $45 million, extending their winning streak to eleven consecutive days.
Despite this, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF (GBTC) recorded outflows of 105.2 million dollars.
Overall, ETF products recorded an inflow of 632 BTC, mainly thanks to inflows from BlackRock and Fidelity. These overshadowed the outflow of 1,550 BTC from GBTC.
In particular, the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) by BlackRock saw inflows worth 102.5 million dollars, the highest among all ETFs. Similarly, the Wise Origin Fund (FBTC) by Fidelity recorded the second highest inflow of 34.3 million dollars.
However, Franklin Bitcoin ETF (EZBC) and VanEck Bitcoin Trust (HODL) did not record inflows on the same day.
The significant outflow from GBTC has led the product to lose its position as the largest spot ETF in terms of BTC holdings. This is due to the higher costs associated with the ETF compared to other products.
Before becoming an ETF, Grayscale held over 600,000 BTC.
After 96 days of trading, BlackRock’s IBIT has surpassed GBTC in terms of BTC held, with 288,671 BTC worth 19.7 billion dollars. This is compared to GBTC’s 287,488 BTC worth 19.6 billion dollars.
Since the launch of Bitcoin ETFs in January in the United States, over 566,662 BTC have been acquired by these funds, bringing the total BTC held by ETFs to over 840,000 BTC.
Despite the continuous inflows of capital, Bitcoin has yet to maintain its price above the $70,000 threshold to bolster confidence.
Currently, the main cryptocurrency has a price of about 67,900 dollars, after briefly touching an intraday peak of about 70,590 dollars a few days ago.