• Crypto-related investment products do not conform to Vanguard’s “investment philosophy.”

  • Ramji expressed the importance of companies being consistent in their values and offerings.

U.S. investing behemoth Vanguard’s new CEO has said that the firm would not be launching a spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund. An interview with Salim Ramji, the new CEO of Vanguard and a former head of BlackRock’s global ETF division, was published in Barron’s on May 15. Ramji said that crypto-related investment products do not conform to Vanguard’s “investment philosophy.”

In his upcoming role as CEO of Vanguard, Ramji expressed the importance of companies being consistent in their values and offerings. He is scheduled to take over on July 8. The iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), a spot Bitcoin ETF launched in January by BlackRock, and Ramji was in charge of its launch.

Young and Speculative Investment

After he joined Vanguard, many in the industry wondered what changes he would implement due to his apparent interest in cryptocurrency. Not only did BlackRock establish an ETF, but nine other investment managers, including Fidelity, followed suit.

Instead of launching a Bitcoin ETF, Vanguard, which manages $8.6 trillion in assets under management, took a different tack, seeing cryptocurrency as a young and speculative investment.

Moreover, in an X post published on May 15th, Bloomberg ETF expert James Seyffart expressed his disbelief that Ramji would introduce a spot Bitcoin ETF from Vanguard. However, Ramji may change the company’s stance on letting customers purchase additional spot Bitcoin ETFs on the brokerage platform, according to Seyffart.

In March, Tim Buckley, the departing CEO of Vanguard, stated his belief that a Bitcoin ETF should not be included in a retirement savings portfolio due to its speculative nature.

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