Goldman Sachs is making a bigger bet on crypto investment products by acquiring Neos Investments, a deal that will bring three bitcoin and ether income ETFs into the bank’s asset management business.
The financial giant said Wednesday that it has agreed to buy Neos for up to $2.25 billion in cash and equity. The final amount will depend on certain performance and service commitments. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, provided it gets regulatory approval and meets other closing conditions.
The acquisition will give Goldman control of three Neos products. These include the Neos Bitcoin High Income ETF (BTCI), Boosted Bitcoin High Income ETF (XBCI) and Ethereum High Income ETF (NEHI).
Why is the deal important?
Unlike traditional crypto ETFs that simply track the price of bitcoin or ether, these funds are built around generating income.
Neos was founded in 2022 and has grown quickly in the ETF market. The firm manages more than $30 billion across 19 options-based income ETFs, according to its website. Its funds cover everything from major U.S. stock indexes to bitcoin, ether and gold.
The basic idea behind the strategy is relatively simple: the funds gain exposure to an asset and then use options to generate income, which is distributed to investors monthly.
Goldman CEO David Solomon said Neos’ approach fits well with the bank’s existing expertise in income, managed-outcome and buffer strategies.
The crypto-focused funds are particularly interesting because they do not directly hold bitcoin or ether.
Instead, they get exposure through exchange-traded products linked to the cryptocurrencies and then use options strategies to generate monthly income. That makes them quite different from spot bitcoin ETFs, where investors are primarily betting on the price of bitcoin going up.
Of the three funds, BTCI is by far the largest. Launched in October 2024, it had more than $1 billion in net assets as of Wednesday. XBCI, which launched in February, had around $111 million, while NEHI, launched in December 2025, had more than $77 million.
BTCI’s size could be especially important for Goldman.
Deal cements Goldman’s longtime vision
Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas suggested that the Neos deal could explain why Goldman has not launched its own Bitcoin Premium Income ETF, despite filing for one in April.
Instead of starting from scratch, Goldman could now simply bring Neos’ existing product into its business. Balchunas said this could allow Goldman to “leapfrog” BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF, known as BITA.
The acquisition also shows how quickly the crypto ETF market is changing.
As bitcoin and ether products become more established, asset managers are looking for ways to offer investors something beyond simple exposure to crypto prices. Income-focused strategies are one way to do that.
Of course, the high income potential comes with trade-offs. Options strategies can generate regular distributions, but they can also limit some of the gains investors might otherwise see during a major crypto rally. Investors therefore need to look at how the strategy works rather than focusing only on the headline yield.
For Goldman, however, the attraction is clear. The bank gets an established ETF business, an experienced team and three crypto-focused products with meaningful assets already behind them.
If the deal closes as planned in early 2027, Goldman will be taking another step into the crypto market, this time not just by offering bitcoin exposure, but by betting on the growing demand for income-generating strategies built around digital assets.
