During a recent appearance on Bloomberg TV, reporter Isabelle Lee explained Vanguard’s possible pro-crypto pivot, clarifying that it is still unclear whether the $11 trillion financial behemoth will end up offering cryptocurrency products on its platform.
“It’s not a ‘yes’ yet, but it’s not a ‘no’ anymore,” she said while commenting on her recent reporting.
Lee recalled how former Vanguard CEO Tim Buckley claimed that the company would never add Bitcoin funds.
John Bogle, the late founder of the financial titan, previously stated that Bitcoin should be avoided “like the plague,” arguing that the cryptocurrency’s value depends entirely on the level of speculative demand.
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Hence, the fact that Vanguard is even considering changing its tune on crypto is a significant change.
Lee has stressed that Vanguard investors who want to buy Bitcoin ETFs do not want to use other platforms, and there is growing demand for these products. The financial titan is now “opening the window” a little.
Influence of new CEO
As reported by U.Today, Salim Ramji, Vanguard’s recently appointed CEO, helped to launch BlackRock’s highly successful iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT).
The astounding success of this product might now be too hard for BlackRock to ignore, which has prompted the recent move.
Lee believes that Ramji might have played a role in this since he has expressed openness to blockchain and Bitcoin. “He’s the first outsider ever to become the CEO of Vanguard…” she noted.
That said, the new Vanguard CEO previously rejected the idea of launching a Bitcoin ETF shortly after his appointment.