Goldman Sachs Sticks With Bitcoin, While 7.8 Million BTC Sit Underwater – Buys More CRCL, GLXY, COIN

• Goldman Sachs walked away entirely from XRP and Solana exchange-traded fund positions during the first quarter of 2026.
• The bank kept around $ 715 million in Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, down about 10% from the previous quarter.
• The firm boosted its Circle Internet Group stake by 24%, while also adding to its positions in Coinbase and PayPal.

Goldman Sachs (GS) held roughly $715 million in Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds through the first quarter of 2026 and expanded its bets on crypto-linked equities like Circle (CRCL), Galaxy Digital (GLXY), and Coinbase (COIN), even as on-chain data showed more than 7.8 million BTC was sitting at a loss.

The bank's latest 13F filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, covering positions as of March 31, showed that Goldman boosted its Circle Internet Group stake by 249% and its position in Galaxy Digital by 205%. It also added to its positions in Coinbase, Robinhood (HOOD), and PayPal (PYPL).

The bank moved in the other direction on Strategy (MSTR), IREN Limited (IREN), Bit Digital (BTBT), and Riot Platforms (RIOT), trimming stakes in all four. 

Goldman walked away entirely from Ripple’s XRP (XRP) and Solana (SOL) ETFs after being the largest known institutional holder of XRP ETF products heading into year-end. The firm trimmed its position in Ethereum (ETH) ETF by roughly 70%. 

Cuts XRP, SOL, ETH Positions

The exit from XRP and SOL ETFs marked a sharp turn from the fourth quarter of last year, when Goldman Sachs held nearly $154 million across XRP ETFs from Bitwise, Franklin Templeton, Grayscale, and 21Shares, along with more than $100 million in Solana products such as the Grayscale Solana Trust ETF (GSOL), Bitwise Solana Staking ETF (BSOL), and Fidelity Solana Fund (FSOL). Goldman had been the largest known institutional holder of XRP ETF products heading into the end of last year.

Bitcoin, on the other hand, stayed Goldman's clear crypto preference. The bank held about $690 million in BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and another $25 million in Fidelity's Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC), even though the positions were trimmed.

Rotation Into Crypto Equities

The reshuffle landed in weak market conditions. On-chain firm Glassnode explained on Monday that more than 7.8 million BTC were underwater at Bitcoin's current $76,700 level, a supply overhang it called "substantial." 

Buyers who entered near cycle highs were holding paper losses, as Glassnode said the market would need to work through that weight before any sustained move higher feels structurally credible.

Bitcoin’s price was trading at $76,244, down over 2% during the past 24 hours. On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment around BTC moved to ‘bearish’ from the ‘neutral’ zone, while chatter around it stayed ‘normal’ over the past day.

Read also: Galaxy Digital Joins Robinhood, PayPal In NY BitLicense Club — GLXY Stock Still Slides To Lowest Level This Month

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