Goldman Sachs Buys Bitcoin ETF Manager NEOS for $2.25 Billion

Goldman Sachs has agreed to acquire NEOS Investments in a cash-and-equity deal valuing the firm at up to $2.25 billion, subject to performance and service targets, with closing expected in the first quarter of 2027 pending regulatory approval. NEOS runs 19 options-based income ETFs holding roughly $30 billion in combined assets, including three funds tied to crypto: the Bitcoin High Income ETF (BTCI), the Boosted Bitcoin High Income ETF (XBCI), and an Ethereum High Income ETF.

BTCI is the headline asset. Launched in October 2024, it crossed $1 billion in assets in under two years by holding spot bitcoin ETPs and selling covered calls against that position, generating a distribution that currently runs around 27%. That yield comes at a cost: the fund has fallen roughly 43% over the past year, since capping upside in exchange for income means it keeps only part of any rally. Combined with Goldman's prior acquisition of Innovator Capital Management, the NEOS deal is expected to lift Goldman's options-income ETF platform to about $130 billion in assets, making it the eighth-largest active ETF provider by assets as of June 30.

Goldman had already filed to compete directly: in April, it registered the Goldman Sachs Bitcoin Premium Income ETF with the SEC, a structurally similar covered-call product. Bloomberg's Eric Balchunas noted that buying NEOS accomplishes the same goal faster than launching a "me too" fund into an already crowded market — Goldman gets BTCI's two years of track record and $1.1 billion in assets immediately, rather than starting from zero against an established leader.

That leader, for now, is NEOS rather than BlackRock. BlackRock launched its own covered-call bitcoin fund, BITA, in June, but it holds about $59 million against BTCI's $1.1 billion, according to Forbes. Buying NEOS gives Goldman the larger, more established product on day one — shifting the contest from who launches the best new fund to who already has the assets and distribution.

Goldman's own announcement of the deal did not mention bitcoin. CEO David Solomon framed it around NEOS complementing Goldman's existing buffer, managed-outcome, and income strategies as investor demand for actively managed ETFs grows — part of a broader derivative-income ETF market that has expanded to roughly $180 billion in assets, growing at more than 70% annually since 2021, according to Morningstar data Goldman cited. NEOS co-founders Troy Cates and Garrett Paolella are set to join Goldman Sachs Asset Management as partners when the deal closes.

That framing matters for how to read the deal. Some coverage has filed it under "Wall Street embraces bitcoin," but the acquisition is narrower than that: Goldman is buying scale and distribution in a specific corner of the ETF market — options-income products with bitcoin exposure — not making a directional bet on bitcoin's price. The bitcoin ETFs are a piece of what Goldman is acquiring, not the reason for the deal.

WHY IT MATTERS

A major bank buying its way into bitcoin income products rather than building competitors signals consolidation in a niche that barely existed two years ago. It also puts more of the covered-call bitcoin ETF market — and the trade-off between yield and capped upside that comes with it — under the umbrella of a bank with far larger distribution than NEOS had on its own.

SOURCES & DATA

CoinDesk — Goldman Sachs leaps into bitcoin income ETFs with $2.25B NEOS buyout ↗ The Block — Goldman Sachs to gain bitcoin and ETH income ETFs in up to $2.25B Neos acquisition ↗ Decrypt — Goldman Sachs' $2.25B NEOS deal hands it ready-made bitcoin income ETF business ↗ Forbes — Goldman Sachs Bitcoin ETF: $2.25 billion NEOS deal explained ↗

Education, not financial advice. See our editorial process and corrections policy.

TERMS IN THIS STORY

Covered Call ETF Flows Assets Under Management

Marisol Vega