Vanguard changes course: a traditional giant rolls out crypto ETF
Vanguard, which manages more than $11 trillion in assets for over 50 million clients worldwide, is opening access to trading crypto exchange-traded funds and mutual funds on its brokerage platform.
This move is not about Vanguard launching its own crypto products. Instead, the firm is giving clients access to existing funds. In practice, that means Vanguard customers will be able to buy and sell only those crypto ETFs that clear regulatory hurdles. The list includes products tied to Bitcoin, Ether, XRP and Solana, while meme coins and openly speculative tokens remain off the menu.
This step looks especially telling against the backdrop of the company’s previous hardline stance. In March 2024, then‑CEO Tim Buckley stressed in an interview that, in his view, Bitcoin was and still is a purely speculative asset that does not fit long-term retirement strategies. At that point, Vanguard flatly refused to add spot Bitcoin ETFs to its product lineup, despite clear interest from institutional clients.
The shift in position came alongside a change in leadership. In 2024, Salim Ramji, who previously oversaw the global ETF business at BlackRock, took over as CEO. As recently as last summer, he also ruled out crypto products under the Vanguard brand in public comments. Persistent demand from both retail and institutional investors has since forced a rethink. Today, the company frames its approach as giving clients the tools they are clearly asking for, while staying within regulatory guardrails and trying to keep risk at a reasonable level.
For the market, Vanguard’s turn is another marker of institutional recognition of digital assets. When even one of the most cautious and conservative asset managers starts adapting to demand for crypto ETFs, it suggests that pressure from clients and competitors has become too strong to ignore.
For the broader industry, this is a logical next step after the launch of spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs in the United States. Traditional brokerage platforms and asset managers are being pushed to rethink their product menus: those who drag their feet risk watching part of their client base (and the assets they manage) migrate to more flexible rivals.
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