Vanguard Opens Crypto ETFs To 50 Million Clients In Landmark Shift

Vanguard will allow clients to trade crypto ETFs and mutual funds that hold digital assets from today, a landmark shift for the $11 trillion asset manager.

The world’s second-largest fund manager behind BlackRock will offer only ETFs that meet regulatory standards, including those tracking Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and Solana, while excluding speculative meme-coin products, Bloomberg reported.

Vanguard will not launch its own funds, instead giving access to third-party offerings such as those from BlackRock.

The move comes after Vanguard reassessed crypto products following growing investor demand, despite previous resistance from former CEO Tim Buckley, who called digital assets speculative.

Head of brokerage and investments Andrew Kadjeski told Bloomberg that crypto ETFs “have been tested through periods of market volatility, performing as designed while maintaining liquidity.”

X user BankXRP said that the development “is another massive signal that traditional finance is fully stepping into digital assets.” 

Vanguard Does A U-Turn

Vanguard has a history of opposing offering its clients crypto products on its platform. One of the main arguments for keeping its distance from the digital asset space has been the high levels of volatility in the market. 

Buckley was strongly opposed to offering crypto products and said in May last year that the company did not believe that crypto belongs in a “long-term portfolio of someone saving for their retirement,” adding that “it’s a speculative asset.” But Buckley left the firm at the end last year. 

Salim Ramji, the former head of BlackRock’s global ETF business, succeeded Buckley as CEO, but also ruled out offering crypto products to the firm’s clients as recently as August.

Now, the addition of third-party crypto products to its platform is seen as a major change in stance. The decision comes after the market for crypto ETFs and mutual funds holding cryptos has matured and as investor appetite continues to grow. 

“The administrative processes to service these types of funds have matured; and investor preferences continue to evolve,” Kadjeski said. 

Floodgates Could Open For Crypto ETFs

Some X users have speculated that Vanguard’s policy shift could lead to a wave of liquidity entering the market, which could subsequently boost crypto prices. 

Crypto analyst and investor Nilesh Rohilla said that he would be surprised if Bitcoin does not soar 5% on the news in the next 24 hours. 

BTC did rise in the past 24 hours, but only by over 1%, according to CoinMarketCap data. The leading crypto still trades at $86,984.61 as of 1:25 a.m. EST.

Daily chart for WBTC/USD (Source: GeckoTerminal)

BTC is, however, trying to break out of a medium-term descending channel, and has oscillated between $83,231 and $93,176 in the past few days. 

Indicators such as short-term Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs), the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD), and the Relative Strength Index (RSI) suggest bears maintain the upper hand. 

A break above the $93,176 resistance level could finally see BTC break out of the aforementioned bearish channel and begin to rally.