Goldman Sachs fully liquidated its holdings in XRP and Solana exchange-traded funds in the first quarter, according to a recent filing, while continuing to build exposure to spot Bitcoin via BlackRock’s IBIT.

In February, the bank reported approximately $260 million in combined XRP and Solana ETF holdings in Q4 2025, its first disclosed positions in crypto assets outside of Bitcoin and Ethereum.

XRP exposure totaled $152 million and was generally balanced across issuers, including roughly $35.9 million in 21Shares, $39.8 million in Bitwise, $38.4 million in Franklin, and $37.9 million in Grayscale XRP ETFs.

Solana holdings amounted to $108 million and were more concentrated, with about $45 million in Bitwise’s Solana staking ETF and $35.7 million in Grayscale’s Solana Trust, plus smaller stakes in Fidelity, VanEck, 21Shares and Franklin Templeton products.

Goldman Sachs raised its IBIT exposure to about 41 million shares in the first quarter of 2026, while more than doubling its call options on the fund to 6.8 million shares and holding 16.3 million in puts, reflecting a hedged but increasingly bullish tilt toward Bitcoin. It trimmed its stake in Fidelity’s FBTC fund marginally, from 469,640 to 426,555 shares.

On Ethereum, the bank sharply reduced its Ethereum ETF holdings in Q1, slashing its ETHA position by approximately 68% from 43.6 million to 13.7 million shares. Separately, it initiated a new 2.5 million-share investment in BlackRock’s iShares Stake Ethereum Trust.

Goldman simultaneously increased its stakes in Circle, Galaxy Digital, and Coinbase, shifting decisively toward Bitcoin and regulated blockchain companies. The firm more than tripled its position in Circle shares, expanding its holdings from 417,174 to nearly 1,5 million.

Goldman’s decision to keep its large Bitcoin ETF stake while trimming or eliminating other crypto ETF positions fits an emerging pattern among large financial institutions.

Bitcoin is treated as the default digital asset for portfolio construction, supported by deep liquidity in spot ETFs, futures markets, and options chains. The wave of spot Bitcoin ETFs since their US approval in January 2024 has given banks and asset managers a familiar wrapper to gain exposure without holding the underlying asset directly.