Vanguard's new CEO Salim Ramji: Will not provide Bitcoin ETF and cryptocurrency trading

Vanguard, the world’s second largest asset management company with more than 9 trillion US dollars in assets under management, refused to provide customers with Bitcoin spot ETF trading services in January this year, and did not It then allowed customers to purchase cryptocurrency products, which was widely criticized by the cryptocurrency community and even triggered a wave of boycotts and divestments.

In this context, CEO Tim Buckley announced in March that he would retire at the end of the year, and the community was hotly discussing that his anti-cryptocurrency stance may be one of the reasons for his departure.

And on the 14th, former BlackRock executive Salim Ramji was appointed as the new CEO and will take office on July 8. Since Ramji was responsible for BlackRock's global iShares business and was an important promoter of the company's launch and approval of the Bitcoin spot ETF, this appointment triggered the community's expectations for possible changes in Vanguard Group's cryptocurrency policy.

Vanguard’s new CEO stated that he will maintain his original position

However, in an interview with Barron’s today, Ramji poured cold water on Vanguard’s idea of ​​providing its own Bitcoin spot ETF. "I think it's important for companies to have consistency in what they stand for and the products and services they offer," he said. I've heard what Chief Investment Officer Greg Davis has to say, and I think it's completely consistent with Vanguard's investment philosophy. This is a logical and consistent point of view. (Do not provide Bitcoin spot ETF services to customers)

Reasons for prohibiting the provision of Bitcoin spot ETF transactions

As for why Vanguard Group does not provide cryptocurrency-related products on its brokerage platform, its ETF Capital Markets Global head Janel Jackson explained at the end of January that this is because in Vanguard Group’s view, cryptocurrency is more like speculation than investment. This is the root cause of the company’s decision not to provide cryptocurrency-related products: Although cryptocurrency has been classified Classified as a commodity, it is an immature asset class with little history, no intrinsic economic value, no cash flows, and can cause serious harm in a portfolio.

Vanguard's customer service representative also explained the reasons behind this decision, pointing out that the product's "highly speculative nature" and "lack of supervision" are not in line with the company's core philosophy of long-term investment.

The spokesperson further confirmed at the time that there are currently no plans to launch a Bitcoin ETF or other crypto-related products. He emphasized: Our long-term view is that the high volatility of cryptocurrencies is inconsistent with our ability to help investors generate positive results in the long term. The goal of return runs counter to that.

In summary, Vanguard Group believes that cryptocurrencies are "highly speculative", "highly volatile" and "lack of supervision" and are not in line with the company's core philosophy of long-term investment, so it refuses to list them on its platform It provides cryptocurrency product trading services and has no plans to launch its own Bitcoin ETF or other cryptocurrency-related products.

It is estimated that more than 700 institutions will invest in Bitcoin spot ETF, with a scale of US$5 billion

However, as more and more institutions disclose Bitcoin in their position reports (13F) From the positions of spot ETFs, we can see that more and more institutions are indeed interested in Bitcoin.

As of last Thursday, a total of 563 professional investment companies reported holding Bitcoin spot ETF positions, with a total value of $3.5 billion. Matt Hougan, chief investment officer of Bitwise, one of the issuers of Bitcoin spot ETFs, even predicts that more than 700 institutions may disclose their Bitcoin spot ETF positions before the submission deadline (15th), and the asset management scale will reach US$5 billion.

In the face of strong institutional interest in the development of Bitcoin spot ETFs, can Vanguard Group still stick to its position?

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