- Vanguard CEO and Chairman Mortimer Buckley says the investment firm does not plan to offer spot Bitcoin ETFs
- He said Bitcoin does not belong to a long-term asset portfolio because it is a speculative asset
- The CEO said the company only invests in assets like stocks that have underlying cash flow
Vanguard Group CEO Mortimer Buckley has confirmed that the company has no plans of offering spot Bitcoin ETFs. According to Buckley, Bitcoin is very speculative and volatile and does not belong in a long-term portfolio. Vanguard is one of the largest ETF issuers with over $2 trillion in AUM (Assets Under Management) and has defied popular expectation that it will apply with the SEC to become one of the top Bitcoin ETF issuers.
Vanguard Does Not Believe Bitcoin ETFs Belong In A Long-Term Portfolio
In an interview, CEO Buckley said they’ve been getting questions about whether they’ve changed their minds about the spot Bitcoin ETFs and “what would it take for you to change your mind?” In response to that Buckley maintained that the company does not have spot Bitcoin ETFs in its prospects and will not change their mind on the product.
“We don’t plan to and… we are not going to change our minds around this unless the asset class changes.”
Vanguard’s lack of interest in the spot Bitcoin ETF is due to the nature of the underlying asset. That explains why Buckley interjects before adding that “we don’t believe…a Bitcoin ETF belongs in a long-term portfolio.” “It is a speculative asset and funds that we offer invest in asset classes that actually have underlying cash flow.”
He also compared Bitcoin to asset classes like stocks and bonds. According to him, with stocks you buy the deferred earnings of a company while bonds pay you interest for lending money.
“They both can be valued,” says Buckley but something like Bitcoin is just too volatile and is not a store of value, hasn’t been. It is speculative, really hard to think about how it belongs to a long-term portfolio.”
Vanguard’s $560 Million Bitcoin Mining Venture Appears Contrary to Its Stand on Spot Bitcoin ETFs
Vanguard has always made it clear that they are conservative about their investment in cryptocurrency asset classes. In a Q&A earlier this year, Janel Jackson its Global Head of ETF Capital Markets had already said the company “has no plans” to launch a Bitcoin ETF or any other crypto-telated products.
According to Jackson, the company considers whether a potential investment will have “enduring investment merit and meet our clients’ needs.” The company doesn’t see Bitcoin ETFs as a profitable long-term investment for its clients as it maintains a traditional client-first investment portfolio.
However, it may come as a shock that a company that views crypto as more of a speculation than an investment has invested over $560 million in Marathon Digital and Riot Blockchain both of which are Bitcoin mining companies. Vanguard has acquired $280.5 million in MARA (Marathon Digital) shares and $281 million in Riot Blockchain shares.
This massive acquisition of over half a billion in Bitcoin mining shares appears like a significant discrepancy between Vanguard’s public position on crypto-backed assets and the company’s action. Meanwhile, despite the company’s CEO’s affirmation of no plans for Bitcoin ETFs, a reconsideration is still possible according to a 2021 Vanguard article titled “Cryptocurrencies and Vanguard: what we think.”
“As cryptocurrencies and blockchain become increasingly mainstream, we’ll continue to monitor their development and discern the best path forward for our investors,” said Vanguard.