Goldman Sachs has agreed to acquire NEOS Investments in a deal worth up to $2.25 billion, bringing a suite of crypto-linked income ETFs under its asset management umbrella. The transaction, expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, will fold NEOS's Bitcoin and Ethereum income funds into Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
What the deal includes
The acquisition covers NEOS's Bitcoin High Income ETF (BTCI), Boosted Bitcoin High Income ETF (XBCI), and Ethereum High Income ETF (NEHI). NEOS co-founders Garrett Paolella and Troy Cates will join Goldman Sachs Asset Management as partners. NEOS manages roughly $30 billion across 19 ETFs that use options strategies to generate monthly income.
The scale of the combined business
Combined with Goldman's existing $40 billion in income-oriented, options-based ETFs, the deal pushes Goldman's active ETF business to about $80 billion, making it the eighth-largest active ETF manager per Morningstar, within a broader $130 billion ETF platform. That's a significant jump for a firm that's been building out its ETF lineup.
The crypto angle
The Bitcoin ETFs don't hold cryptocurrency directly. They use derivatives to generate income from crypto-linked exposure. The high headline yields come largely from selling options premium, not necessarily reflecting the price performance of Bitcoin itself. That's a nuance worth noting for investors who might assume direct exposure.
The acquisition follows Goldman's earlier purchase of Innovator Capital Management. The deal is pending regulatory approval, with a target close in Q1 2027. Until then, NEOS will continue to operate as it has.
