Goldman Sachs agreed to buy NEOS Investments in a deal worth up to $2.25 billion

Goldman Makes Its Move on Bitcoin Income

Goldman Sachs has agreed to acquire NEOS Investments, the manager of the $1.1 billion BTCI bitcoin synthetic ETF, in a cash-and-equity deal valuing NEOS at up to $2.25 billion, with closing expected in early 2027 pending regulatory approval.

BTCI does not hold bitcoin directly. Instead, it holds spot bitcoin exchange-traded products and sells call options against those positions to fund monthly distributions, meaning investors collect income but give up some upside during rallies. The fund generates a yield of about 27% but has fallen roughly 43% over the past year and charges a 0.99% expense ratio.

BTCI launched in October 2024 and crossed $1 billion in assets in under two years, according to Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas.

A Strategic Shortcut Over a Competing Product

On April 14, Goldman registered the Goldman Sachs Bitcoin Premium Income ETF with the SEC, proposing a structurally similar covered-call product. The bank never launched it. The acquisition of NEOS effectively gives @GoldmanSachs a ready-built, billion-dollar version of that strategy rather than building one from scratch.

The acquisition adds $30 billion in assets across NEOS' 19 options-based income ETFs to Goldman Sachs Asset Management's existing $40 billion in income and outcome-oriented options-based ETF solutions. Once complete, the deal will make Goldman Sachs Asset Management the eighth-largest active ETF provider, with $80 billion in active ETFs across a $130 billion global ETF platform, as of June 30, 2026, according to Morningstar data.

The NEOS acquisition comes roughly a year after Goldman paid $2 billion for Innovator Capital Management, which specializes in defined-outcome ETFs, according to Bloomberg.

NEOS co-founders Troy Cates and Garrett Paolella will join Goldman Sachs Asset Management as partners when the deal closes, and the entire NEOS team is expected to join the business.

The transaction consideration of up to $2.25 billion in cash and equity is subject to the achievement of certain performance and service commitments, and the deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, subject to regulatory approval.

Sources:
Goldman Sachs Press Release: Agreement to Acquire NEOS Investments
CoinDesk: Goldman Sachs Buys NEOS in $2.25 Billion Deal
Bloomberg: Goldman Sachs to Acquire ETF Provider Neos in $2.3 Billion Deal