Vanguard’s attitude towards such products is evident to anyone who has been paying attention to the recent launch of bitcoin spot ETFs.
If you thought the financial services giant might view ether differently — or evolve their stance — you can keep thinking.
“While we continuously evaluate our brokerage [offering] and evaluate new product entries to the market, spot ether ETFs will not be available for purchase on the Vanguard platform,” A spokesperson for Blockworks confirmed this.
Clarity comes as a result of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s approval last week of 19b-4 proposals from exchanges seeking to list spot ETH fund. The regulator still has to sign off on registration statements from the fund issuers themselves before the planned products can launch — a process industry watchers expect to take several weeks or months.
Vanguard’s position, to many, is a likely double down.
This company has approximately $7.7 billion in assets and did not allow bitcoin spot ETFs on its platform to trade when they first hit the market. This decision came despite competing brokerages — like Fidelity and Charles Schwab — offering such products.
“We believe that cryptocurrency products are not aligned with our [offerings] focused on asset classes such as equities, bonds, and cash, which Vanguard views as the building blocks of a well-balanced, long-term investment portfolio,” The representative repeated this last week.
Vanguard has maintained its position on this segment, despite increased bipartisan backing for crypto-friendly legislation.
BlackRock, one Vanguard’s biggest rivals for asset management, has a bitcoin-focused fund which now boasts assets of nearly $20 billion. It is not anticipated that spot ether offerings will see as many volumes or as much flow as BTC.
Salim Ramji will become Vanguard CEO on July 1. He previously led BlackRock’s ETF division.
This executive was responsible for the preparation of the spot Bitcoin ETF, which the SEC will launch in January.
Ramji has argued that such products offer improved access into a whole new class of assets, but he said in an article with Barron’s he will keep this product. “consistency” Vanguard provides a wide range of services and products.
Ric Edelman is the founder of Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals. He told Blockworks that he thinks Vanguard may one day offer a bitcoin ETF on their platform.
“From a purely business perspective, it’s foolish not to,” He also added. “And Salim is not foolish.”
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