Asset management giant Vanguard has reportedly decided not to allow the purchase of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on its platform, a move that has led some customers to consider leaving. The company stated that it will not offer the new spot Bitcoin ETFs on its brokerage platform as they do not align with its traditional offerings of equities, bonds, and cash, which it views as the building blocks of a well-balanced, long-term investment portfolio.
Vanguard was not among the 14 issuers that applied for a spot Bitcoin ETF last year, and this recent decision has prompted some investors to move their funds to other platforms. Tony Spencer, a Vanguard customer, claims that a company spokesperson told him that Vanguard is not allowing spot Bitcoin ETFs for purchase because the product does not fit with Vanguard’s investment philosophy. Spencer also alleges that Vanguard only allows investors to sell Grayscale’s flagship Bitcoin product, GBTC, which was recently converted into a spot ETF.
Yuga Cohler, Coinbase’s senior engineering manager, announced that 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. Cohler criticized Vanguard’s decision, stating that it does not fit in with his investment philosophy. Bitcoin commentator Neil Jacobs also expressed his dissatisfaction with Vanguard’s decision and is in the process of transferring funds out of the platform.
Other investment firms including Citi, Merill Lynch, Edward Jones, and UBS have also reportedly not allowed the purchase of spot Bitcoin ETFs on their platforms. Merrill Lynch, however, is reportedly waiting to see whether the spot Bitcoin ETFs trade efficiently before deciding to offer the purchase of the Bitcoin products. On the other hand, spot Bitcoin ETF trading was accessible on JPMorgan’s brokerage platform, which is an authorized participant of BlackRock’s IBIT product. JPMorgan has shared a risk disclosure to prospective investors considering placing a trade order.
Spot Bitcoin ETF trading volumes topped 4.5 billion on the first day of trading, with most of the flows coming from BlackRock’s IBIT, Grayscale’s GBTC, and Fidelity’s FBTC product. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also approved the 19b-4 and S-1 applications of ARK 21Shares, Invesco Galaxy, VanEck, WisdomTree, Valkyrie, Bitwise, and Franklin Templeton. Hashdex is still awaiting S-1 approval.
This News Article was automatically generated by Bob the Bot (AI)
| Information | Details |
|---|---|
| Geography | North America |
| Countries | 🇺🇸 |
| Sentiment | negative |
| Relevance Score | 1 |
| People | Dan McArdle, Neil Jacobs, Jamie Dimon, Tony Spencer, Yuga Cohler, Eleanor Terrett |
| Companies | UBS, Valkyrie, BlackRock, Citi, Merill Lynch, JPMorgan, Hashdex, Coinbase, Fox Business, ARK 21Shares, VanEck, Fidelity, The Wall Street Journal, Bitwise, WisdomTree, Grayscale, Edward Jones, Vanguard, Invesco Galaxy, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Messari, Franklin Templeton |
| Currencies | Bitcoin |
| Securities | None |
