Vanguard, the world’s second-largest asset manager, enabled the trading of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and other crypto-related products on its platform at the start of December. However, it appears that the firm’s overall view of crypto and the digital asset industry has not changed very much over time.
Hence, the reversal of its longstanding position on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies seems to be a purely business decision rather than a change in belief. This revelation came from one of the trillion-dollar company’s top executives at a Bloomberg conference on Thursday, December 11.
No Evidence BTC’s Technology Offers Economic Value: Vanguard’s Quant Head
According to a Bloomberg report, John Ameriks, Vanguard’s global head of quantitative equity, revealed that the asset management firm’s view of crypto remains unchanged despite recently offering its investors access to Bitcoin ETFs. The senior investment executive likened BTC to a speculative “digital Labubu”—a popular plush toy collectible.
Ameriks posited that Bitcoin could be seen as a speculative collectible rather than as a productive asset, as it lacks the income, compounding, and cash-flow properties Vanguard typically checks for in long-term investments. The global head of quant said there is no clear evidence that Bitcoin’s underlying technology delivers durable economic value.
It is for this not-so-optimistic view of cryptocurrencies that Vanguard has refrained from issuing its own crypto-linked exchange-traded funds. However, the asset management firm welcomed select crypto funds to its platform earlier this month after seeing the successful record of the US-based Bitcoin ETFs since their launch.
Ameriks said in a separate interview at the Bloomberg conference:
We allow people to hold and buy these ETFs on our platform if they wish to do so, but they do so with discretion. We’re going to not give them advice as to whether to buy or sell or which crypto tokens they ought to hold. That’s just not something we’re going to do at this point.
Nevertheless, the Vanguard global head of quantitative equity did admit that he sees Bitcoin potentially offering non-speculative value in certain contexts. The top executive listed high-inflation environments and periods of political instability as some of such scenarios.
Ameriks concluded:
If you can see reliable movement in the price in those circumstances, we can talk more sensibly about what the investment thesis might be and what role it could play in a portfolio. But you just don’t have that yet – you’ve still got too short of a history.
Bitcoin Price At A Glance
The price of BTC has been in a sustained downtrend over the past few months, sitting nearly 30% away from its all-time high of $126,080. As of this writing, the premier cryptocurrency is valued at around $90,380, reflecting an over 2% decline in the past day.
