Vanguard CEO Tim Buckley reiterates opposition to Bitcoin ETFs citing volatility and speculative nature, despite customer pushback.
The CEO of The Vanguard Group, Tim Buckley, remains steadfast in his opposition to Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) despite facing criticism and ongoing inquiries about the firm’s potential plans to offer them.
In a recent video released by Vanguard, Buckley advised against including Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs in retirement investment portfolios due to the cryptocurrency's volatile nature.
“We are of the opinion that a Bitcoin ETF is not suitable for inclusion in a long-term retirement portfolio. It is a speculative asset.”
Buckley also argued against Bitcoin's status as a store of value, citing its significant decline during the 2022 stock market crash.
“During the recent crisis, when stocks plummeted, Bitcoin followed suit. It remains speculative and challenging to justify its inclusion in a long-term investment portfolio,” he remarked.
In 2021, Bitcoin surged to an all-time high exceeding $69,000, a record recently surpassed when it hit $73,835. However, in 2022, its value plummeted sharply to below $16,000.
The S&P 500 experienced a 21% decline in the first half of 2022, largely attributed to interest rate hikes by the United States Federal Reserve.
Despite inquiries about Vanguard's potential offering of spot Bitcoin ETFs, Buckley reiterated the firm's stance, stating they will not change it "unless the nature of the asset class changes."
Following the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s approval of 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs on Jan. 10, Vanguard swiftly announced its decision not to provide the product to its customers.
On Jan. 12, Cointelegraph reported Vanguard's statement that they have "no intentions to introduce Vanguard Bitcoin ETFs or other cryptocurrency-related products."
Existing customers, especially those in the cryptocurrency sector, expressed dissatisfaction with Vanguard's decision.
Yuga Cohler, senior engineering manager at Coinbase, announced his intention to transfer his Roth 401(k) savings from Vanguard to Fidelity, one of the approved spot Bitcoin ETF providers.
“Vanguard's paternalistic approach to blocking Bitcoin ETFs does not align with my investment principles,” Cohler remarked.
Despite Vanguard's lack of interest in offering cryptocurrency products, it holds significant indirect exposure to Bitcoin as the second-largest institutional shareholder of MicroStrategy.
As of Jan. 12, Cointelegraph reported that Vanguard owned an 8.24% stake in the company.
According to Brett Harrison, former FTX US executive, and X Hall of Flame, "Expect records to be broken" by Bitcoin ETFs.