Goldman Sachs agreed to acquire NEOS Investments for up to $2.25B, gaining three crypto income ETFs and $30B+ in options-based assets in a move targeting the BTC income ETF space.
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Goldman Sachs has agreed to acquire NEOS Investments for up to $2.25 billion in cash and equity.
The Wall Street bank announced the deal on Aug. 12. It is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, subject to regulatory approval and other standard closing conditions.
What Goldman Gets From the NEOS Deal
NEOS was founded in 2022 and manages more than $30 billion across 19 options-based income exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Its funds use options strategies to generate monthly income while providing exposure to assets including US stock indexes, Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and gold. Three of those funds are crypto-focused. The Bitcoin High Income ETF (BTCI), launched in October 2024, has crossed $1 billion in net assets. The Boosted Bitcoin High Income ETF (XBCI), launched in February 2026, holds about $111 million in net assets. The Ethereum High Income ETF (NEHI), launched in December 2025, holds over $77 million in net assets.
None of the three crypto funds hold BTC or ETH directly. They gain exposure through exchange-traded products linked to the assets and sell call options against those positions to generate monthly distributions. That structure means investors receive yield in exchange for giving up some of the upside when BTC or ETH prices rise sharply. BTCI yields roughly 27% annually, to Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas. BTCI's shares fell from a 52-week high of $65.87 to around $28.40 over the past year, a decline of 42.55%, according to Bloomberg terminal data.
Goldman filed for its own Bitcoin Premium Income ETF with the SEC in April, proposing a structurally similar covered-call product, but the firm never launched it. Balchunas said on X that the NEOS acquisition likely explains why. "Nowww I get why GS never launched the BTC covered call product they filed months ago," Balchunas wrote. "Better to leapfrog BlackRock's BITA vs me too?" BlackRock launched its own Bitcoin income ETF, BITA, on Nasdaq on June 16. BITA targets a 15% to 25% annual yield and carries an expense ratio of 0.65%. BTCI charges 0.99%. BlackRock's BITA currently holds about $59 million in net assets, well below BTCI's $1 billion.
Scale, Strategy, and What Comes Next for Goldman
The NEOS deal follows Goldman's approximately $2 billion acquisition of Innovator Capital Management, which closed in April. Innovator specializes in ETFs that use options to limit downside risk while offering income and potential gains. Combined with Goldman's existing options-based ETF assets and the Innovator platform, after the purchase is finalized Goldman will manage more than $130 billion in total ETF assets, which would rank it eighth among active ETF managers globally, Goldman said, citing Morningstar data.
The derivative income ETF category has grown to roughly $180 billion in industry-wide assets, compounding at more than 70% annually since 2021, according to Morningstar. Goldman is acquiring established scale in that category rather than building from scratch. David Solomon, Goldman's chairman and CEO, said NEOS's investment approach complements Goldman's existing capabilities across income and outcome strategies. "As investor demand for active ETFs grows, NEOS' disciplined investment approach is highly complementary to our capabilities across buffer, managed outcome and income strategies," Solomon said.
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NEOS co-founders Troy Cates and Garrett Paolella will join Goldman Sachs Asset Management as partners once the transaction closes. The rest of the NEOS team, including investment and client-service staff, is also expected to move to Goldman. Goldman has not said whether the NEOS deal changes its plans for the Bitcoin Premium Income ETF it filed for in April. One unnamed senior ETF analyst told Bloomberg the deal reflects Goldman's broader push to build out its ETF business, noting that BTCI is just one of nearly 20 funds in the NEOS lineup.
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