Goldman Sachs jumps into bitcoin ETFs while rivals retreat, and one hedge fund gets bullish on miners

When the SEC opened the door in January for bitcoin exchange-traded funds to hit the mainstream, many traditional financial institutions across Wall Street and beyond finally had the opportunity to buy into crypto. Since then, money has poured in, but in fits and starts.

On Wednesday, banks and hedge funds with more than $100 million in assets hit a deadline to file their second-quarter 13F reports, disclosing their investments and what they bought and sold over a three-month stretch.

Goldman Sachs went big in the quarter, while rival Morgan Stanley trimmed down its crypto holdings. JPMorgan has yet to make a big splash.

There are no shortage of opportunities for firms that want to take their time getting into the market. Following an array of public ETF listings in January tied to bitcoin, the SEC went a step further last month, clearing the way for spot ether ETFs, allowing investors to get access to the second-largest cryptocurrency. Those new holdings will start showing up in third-quarter reports.

In the period from March through June, Goldman Sachs made its debut in the crypto ETF market, purchasing $418 million worth of bitcoin funds. Its biggest position is a $238 million ownership in shares of BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust. The bank also owns shares in spot funds from Grayscale, Invesco, Fidelity and others.

Morgan Stanley was the first among the big players on Wall Street to give the green light to its 15,000 financial advisors to start pitching clients, who have a net worth north of $1.5 million, bitcoin ETFs, specifically those issued by BlackRock and Fidelity. Up to this point, wealth management businesses have only facilitated trades if customers requested exposure to the new spot crypto funds.

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