Goldman Places a $2.25 Billion ETF Bet, While the CLARITY Act Vote Finally Gets a Date

There are two stories worth your time this week. Goldman spent big to buy its way into options-income ETFs, and the U.S. Senate finally scheduled the vote it skipped before recess.

TL;DR

• Goldman Sachs agreed to acquire NEOS Investments for up to $2.25 billion, picking up a $30 billion options-income ETF platform that includes a $1.1 billion Bitcoin income fund.

• Majority Leader John Thune filed cloture on the motion to proceed to the CLARITY Act. The Senate votes at 2:15 p.m. ET on September 15.

Goldman Buys an Options-Income Platform, and Gets a Bitcoin Fund With It 🏦

On Wednesday, Goldman Sachs agreed to acquire NEOS Investments in a cash and equity deal worth up to $2.25 billion, with part of the consideration contingent on performance and service commitments. Closing is expected in the first quarter of 2027, subject to regulatory approval.

NEOS was founded in 2022 in Westport, Connecticut, and manages roughly $30 billion across 19 options-based income ETFs. The combined platform would take Goldman Sachs Asset Management past $130 billion in assets under supervision and into the top eight of active ETF managers.

The fund that matters for this newsletter is BTCI, at about $1.1 billion. It doesn't hold Bitcoin directly. It gets exposure through Bitcoin ETPs and generates income by writing call options on Bitcoin futures ETFs.

NEOS currently reports a 26.73% distribution rate on it. Its published 30-day SEC yield is 1.62%. Those two numbers measure different things, and the gap between them is the price of writing calls: you're selling your upside for cash today.

Goldman filed for its own Bitcoin Premium Income ETF back in April, with reporting at the time suggesting a launch around the end of June. However, that product hasn't arrived. Instead, the firm is buying an established options-income business with $30 billion in assets, a team, a distribution operation, and a Bitcoin fund already at scale.

I don't want to over-read it. Goldman is buying a whole platform rather than a Bitcoin strategy, but a firm with Goldman's options desk and balance sheet ran the build-versus-buy numbers in this category and was willing to write a very large cheque.

Two years ago the question was whether the big US banks would offer Bitcoin products at all. The question now seems to be what they're prepared to pay to skip the queue.

The CLARITY Act Finally Has a Date on the Calendar 🗓️

Last week I wrote that the pre-recess window was closing with no vote date confirmed.

That changed on Friday, August 7.

Majority Leader John Thune filed cloture on the motion to proceed to H.R. 3633, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. The Senate votes on that motion at 2:15 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, September 15.

Cloture limits further debate and takes 60 votes to invoke. This motion is on the motion to proceed to the bill rather than on the bill itself, so even a successful vote leaves more procedure before the Senate formally takes up and amends the legislation.

Putting CLARITY on the calendar hasn't resolved what kept it off the floor. Democratic objections reportedly still cover ethics provisions, illicit finance, consumer protection and conflicts of interest.

September 15 will decide whether 60 senators advance the motion that allows the Senate to take up the bill at all. That's a lower bar than most of this week's coverage suggested, and it's the first scheduled floor vote this bill has had.

I've said all year that the biggest constraint on institutional participation is that general counsel can't write a clean opinion on what's permitted. September 15 is the next real test of whether that changes in 2026.

Elsewhere in Bitcoin 📖

A quick look at what else has been happening in Bitcoin:

• The SEC canceled its August 14 open meeting, where commissioners had been scheduled to consider proposing a new offering regime for certain crypto asset investment contracts. No replacement date has been announced

• UBS's latest 13F showed its ordinary IBIT shareholding at 407,890 shares, down from 548,614 at the end of 2025, alongside new call and put positions

Your fellow stacker in sats,

Patrick Lowry

PS: If you want to see how the value of goods and services changes when priced in Bitcoin, check out the Samara Bitcoin CPI. It might give you a new perspective on holding Bitcoin on your company's balance sheet or just as an individual.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this newsletter are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of any associated company. This newsletter is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment, financial, or any other professional advice. Nothing here is a solicitation, offer, or recommendation to buy or sell any asset or to use any service. Investing in cryptocurrencies is highly speculative and carries a significant risk of substantial financial loss, so you must conduct your own thorough research and consult with independent professional advisors before making any decisions.