Wall Street titan Goldman Sachs announced on Wednesday its intent to acquire ETF issuer Neos Investments in a deal valued at up to $2.25 billion. This strategic move will bring three prominent Bitcoin and Ethereum options income ETFs under Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s umbrella, positioning the banking giant in direct competition with BlackRock in the burgeoning cryptocurrency ETF arena.
According to the agreement, the acquisition price, which could reach $2.25 billion in cash and stock, will be contingent on Neos’s future operating performance and service commitments. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, with completion anticipated in the first quarter of 2027.
Upon the deal’s finalization, Neos’s three flagship cryptocurrency products—the “Neos Bitcoin High Yield ETF (BTCI),” “Boosted Bitcoin High Yield ETF (XBCI),” and “Ethereum High Yield ETF (NEHI)”—will be fully integrated into Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
Founded in 2022, Neos Investments currently manages 19 income-generating ETFs primarily utilizing options strategies, boasting over $30 billion in assets under management (AUM). These innovative products leverage options trading to generate monthly income while providing market exposure to various assets, including equity indices, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and gold.
David Solomon, Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, highlighted the strategic fit, stating, “As investor demand for active ETFs continues to grow, Neos’s rigorous investment strategies perfectly complement Goldman Sachs’s existing buffer, target outcome, and income-oriented offerings.”
It is important to note that these three cryptocurrency funds do not directly invest in spot Bitcoin or Ethereum. Instead, they achieve exposure and generate stable monthly income through ETPs linked to these underlying assets, combined with sophisticated options strategies.
For instance, the BTCI fund, which debuted in October 2024, had already surpassed $1 billion in net asset value (NAV) as of Wednesday. The XBCI fund, launched in February of this year, holds approximately $111 million in NAV, while the Ethereum-focused NEHI fund, introduced in December 2025, has accumulated over $77 million in NAV.
Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas suggested on social media platform X that this acquisition might be the underlying reason for Goldman Sachs’s delay in launching its “Bitcoin Premium Income ETF,” which it had applied for in April.
Balchunas further elaborated that by directly absorbing Neos’s BTCI, Goldman Sachs is effectively “leapfrogging” the competition to directly challenge asset management behemoth BlackRock’s comparable product, the “iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF (BITA).” BlackRock’s BITA, listed in June of this year, currently has an NAV of only about $59 million, significantly trailing BTCI’s scale.
Goldman Sachs refrained from commenting on any potential changes to its previously filed Bitcoin ETF plans. This acquisition follows another significant move in April, when Goldman Sachs completed the acquisition of Innovator Capital Management for approximately $2 billion. Innovator also specializes in ETF products that use options to manage downside risk, offer stable income, and provide potential capital gains. These consecutive acquisitions underscore Goldman Sachs’s aggressive expansion into the derivative ETF landscape.
Citing data from Morningstar, Goldman Sachs noted that the “derivative income ETF” segment has swelled to approximately $180 billion across the asset management industry, experiencing a compound annual growth rate exceeding 70% since 2021.
As of June 30 this year, the combined total AUM of Goldman Sachs, Innovator, and Neos on global ETF platforms exceeded $130 billion. Goldman Sachs projects that post-integration, its active ETF AUM will reach $80 billion, propelling the firm to become the world’s 8th largest active ETF issuer.
Regarding personnel, Neos co-founders Troy Cates and Garrett Paolella are set to join Goldman Sachs Asset Management as partners upon the transaction’s completion. The entire Neos team, including investment and client service professionals, is also expected to integrate into the Goldman Sachs structure.
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