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

by Ben Strack /

April 5, 2024 10:05 am

JHVEPhoto/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

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.

Newsletter

Subscribe to The Breakdown

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.

Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

The Breakdown: Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily.
0xResearch: Alpha in your inbox. Think like an analyst.

Tags

Newsletter

The Breakdown

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Digital Asset Summit 2026

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 24 - 26, 2026

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.

buy tickets learn more

recent research

Research

Kinetiq Protocol: From LST Infrastructure to HIP-3 Deployer

Kinetiq has established itself as Hyperliquid's dominant liquid staking protocol, holding 82.5% of LST market share with $610M in TVL. The protocol is now expanding beyond its kHYPE staking core into higher take-rate verticals: iHYPE for institutional custody rails, Launch for HIP-3 capital formation, and Markets for builder-deployed perpetuals. We view Markets, launching Jan. 12, as the highest-potential product line given its mechanically scalable, activity-linked unit economics. Near-term revenue remains anchored by kHYPE's KIP-2 fee schedule (~$1.6M annualized), while Markets provides embedded optionality if HIP-3 economics normalize post-Growth Mode. KNTQ's setup is relatively clean: zero insider unlocks until November 2026, 6.2% buyback yield from staking revenue, and cleared airdrop overhang. Risks center on unproven Markets execution, declining kHYPE TVL despite ongoing incentives, and competition from Hyperliquid's native initiatives.

by Shaunda Devens