More than a dozen financial firms are involved in new bitcoin exchange-traded funds that began trading Thursday, but one of the biggest fund issuers and money managers in the world still won’t touch cryptocurrency.
A Vanguard spokeswoman told CNBC that the asset management giant has no plans to create a bitcoin ETF of its own, or to even offer funds from other issuers on its trading platform.
“While we continuously evaluate our brokerage offer and evaluate new product entries to the market, spot Bitcoin ETFs will not be available for purchase on the Vanguard platform. We also have no plans to offer Vanguard Bitcoin ETFs or other crypto-related products,” the statement said.
“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,” the statement continued.
Vanguard is one of two dominant players in the U.S. ETF market. Its chief rival BlackRock has entered the bitcoin space, with the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) launching Thursday.
Vanguard, headquartered just outside Philadelphia, has earned a reputation for being a low cost, and more conservative investment manager. Under its founder, Jack Bogle, Vanguard helped to drive down costs for investors starting in the 1970s by introducing passive stock index funds that tracked broader markets and, on average, outperformed highly paid active managers. It also constantly lowered its fees.
Bogle died in 2019 and Vanguard now oversees more than $8 trillion in assets but still operates using many of its founder’s more cautious beliefs.
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