Goldman Sachs named as authorized participant on BlackRock bitcoin ETF

The asset management giant also adds UBS Securities, Citigroup Global Markets and Citadel Securities, a Thursday regulatory filing indicates

article-image

JHVEPhoto/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

More traditional finance players are entering the spot bitcoin ETF realm — albeit not yet as issuers — after the successful launches of such products. 

Goldman Sachs is among the new slate of authorized participants named for BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), according to a Thursday regulatory filing.

The world’s largest asset manager also named UBS Securities, Citigroup Global Markets, Citadel Securities and ABN AMRO Clearing USA as authorized participants, the disclosure notes

Read more: ETFs helped ‘legitimize’ bitcoin ahead of halving: Q&A

Authorized participants, or APs, are specialized entities — often large financial institutions — that create and redeem shares of an ETF. The shares can typically then be exchanged for a similar basket of securities reflecting the holdings of the ETF, or for cash. This process plays a critical role in ensuring the liquidity and price accuracy of ETF shares in the market.

“Takeaway: Big time firms now want [a] piece of action and/or are now OK being publicly associated [with] this,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Eric Balchunas said in an X post.

BlackRock launched IBIT, along with nine similar competing funds, on Jan. 11. The iShares product launched with four authorized participants, a Jan. 9 filing indicates: Jane Street Capital, JPMorgan Securities, Macquarie Capital and UBS Securities. 

Loading Tweet..

The disclosure comes after the BlackRock fund has seen nearly three months of consistent net inflows. 

IBIT has tallied more than $14 billion of net inflows since hitting the market — nearly double that of the category’s second-highest flow gatherer: the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC).  

Additional authorized participants may be added at any time, BlackRock said in both filings.

Spokespeople for BlackRock and Goldman Sachs did not immediately return a request for comment.


Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter.

Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research Report Templates.jpg

Research

The L2 ecosystem has evolved into a complex landscape, with over $17B in market value and $50B in secured assets. While traditionally seen as high-beta plays on Ethereum, no L2 token achieved a beta higher than 1.0 relative to ETH in 2024. Furthermore, token dilution significantly impacted the sector, with a 1% increase in circulating supply corresponding to a 1.4% decrease in returns.

Key figures including Vitalik Buterin struggle to communicate the network’s core mission in an era of memecoin-minimized attention spans

article-image

World Liberty Financial has been busy buying crypto ahead of its launch

article-image

Trump’s token is setting the “tone” for crypto, Empire co-host Santiago Santos said

article-image

A pair of fundraises by Tapestry and Oh both came with expansive ideas about the future of AI and the role of humans in it

article-image

The Calamos Bitcoin Structured Alt Protection ETF — January is set to offer “systematic risk management” across its roughly one-year outcome period

article-image

Crypto industry elites (and a journalist or two) donned black tie at the Crypto Ball Friday night