Goldman Sachs Buys Innovator For $2b, Adds Bitcoin-linked Etf To...

The acquisition expands Goldman’s defined-outcome ETF business and moves the bank deeper into crypto-linked investment products.

Goldman Sachs agreed to acquire Innovator Capital Management for about $2 billion, bringing the issuer of defined-outcome exchange-traded funds (ETFs), including a Bitcoin structured fund, under its asset management umbrella.

The transaction, slated to close in the second quarter of 2026, will bring about $28 billion in additional assets under supervision to Goldman Sachs’ Asset Management, which reported $3.45 trillion in assets under supervision (AUS) at the end of the third quarter.

Goldman said the purchase will broaden its plans for active and defined-outcome ETFs, a fund that uses options to limit losses and set how much of an asset’s gains investors can capture over a fixed period.

Launched in February, Innovator’s QBF ETF uses FLEX options referencing Bitcoin ETFs or the Cboe Bitcoin US ETF Index to mirror part of Bitcoin’s gains while capping quarterly losses at 20%.

Its current 71% participation rate means the fund is designed to capture 71% of any positive Bitcoin (BTC) price move over that period. As of Friday, Innovator reported that QBF held about $19.3 million in market value.

Related: BlackRock exec says ‘perfectly normal’ as IBIT sees $2.3B outflows in Nov

After dismissing cryptocurrencies as unsuitable for client portfolios in 2020, Goldman Sachs has become increasingly bullish on crypto and blockchain technology.

From 2020 to 2024, the US investment bank took part in 18 investments in blockchain companies, placing it among the most active global backers of early-stage companies in the sector.

In the second quarter of  2024, it bought about $419 million worth of Bitcoin ETF shares, according to CoinShares’ analysis of quarterly 13F filings.

Source: CoinTelegraph