Asset manager Vanguard’s apparent decision not to allow the purchase of spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETF) on its platform has seemingly pushed a few customers toward the exit door.
According to a Jan. 11 report from The Wall Street Journal, Vanguard said it won’t offer the new spot Bitcoin ETFs on its brokerage platform as they do not align with its traditional offerings.
“Spot bitcoin ETFs will not be available for purchase on the Vanguard platform,” said the company in a statement to the WSJ. “We also have no plans to offer Vanguard bitcoin ETFs or other crypto-related products.”
“Our perspective is that these products do not align with our offer 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.”
Vanguard wasn’t among the 14 issuers to apply for a spot Bitcoin ETF in 2023, and some investors have seen its recent moves as a reason to move their funds to other platforms.
One apparent Vanguard customer, Tony Spencer, claims a spokesperson told him that Vanguard isn’t allowing spot Bitcoin ETFs for purchase because the product “doesn’t fit with Vanguard’s investment philosophy.”
Spencer also claims Vanguard only allows investors to sell Grayscale’s flagship Bitcoin product, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, which was recently converted into a spot ETF.
NEW: @Vanguard_Group, the world’s second largest asset manager behind @BlackRock, is reportedly blocking its customers from buying into the new $BTC Spot ETFs, saying the products “don’t fit with Vanguard’s investment philosophy.”
Now we’ll start to see how institutional… https://t.co/LmZodeYyad
— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) January 11, 2024
Coinbase’s senior engineering manager Yuga Cohler was among others who said he will be converting his Roth 401(k) savings at Vanguard to Fidelity, which issued one of the 10 spot Bitcoin ETFs that launched on Jan. 11.
“Vanguard’s paternalistic blocking of Bitcoin ETFs does not fit in with my investment philosophy,” Cohler added.
Bitcoin commentator Neil…
..
