Jim Bianco has stepped out to defend Vanguard from detractors.
Vanguard has not changed its position on supporting Bitcoin ETFs.
In Bianco’s opinion, Vanguard is prospering and on par with BlackRock.
Financial expert Jim Bianco took to X to defend Vanguard’s CEO Tim Buckley against the backlash that followed his explicit declaration that his organization was not interested in working with spot Bitcoin ETFs.
Vanguard Is Unwavering About the Spot Bitcoin ETF
Spot Bitcoin ETFs were first approved by the US SEC in January, and several big asset management companies, such as WisdomTree, Fidelity Investments, Grayscale Investments, and BlackRock, were the first to sell the new product.
Conversely, Vanguard made it quite apparent that it will not participate in the spot Bitcoin ETF market. Other cryptocurrency players criticized the move. Cathie Wood of Ark Invest even referred to the move as “horrible,” pointing out that it will deny Vanguard users access to a decentralized monetary system.
Reiterating his company’s position on the spot Bitcoin ETF offering, Buckley recently said that Vanguard would only consider it if the asset class transformed. Bianco noticed that the comments on a popular X post quickly gained traction, but he observed that the crypto community was sharing “a bunch of really bad takes.”
Therefore, he decided to express his viewpoint and support Buckley.
Vanguard and BlackRock Comparatively
He began by describing a scenario in which he compared Vanguard to an 850-pound gorilla and BlackRock to an 800-pound gorilla in ETFs. He provided context by saying that BlackRock, which typically has up to $2.84 trillion in ETF assets, saw inflows of roughly $2.6 billion last week out of $18.19 billion.
There are a lot of negative opinions from the cryptocurrency community in the tweet replies.
To put things in perspective, Vanguard is the 850-pound gorilla in ETFs, whereas BlackRock is the 800-pound gorilla.
JUST IN: Vanguard CEO says they will not offer spot #Bitcoin ETFs because “it does not belong in a long-term portfolio” and it’s “not a store of value.” pic.twitter.com/yF0dNmYMaR
— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) March 15, 2024
Vanguard, which has over $2.58 trillion in assets, had inflows of $29.44 billion into all of its ETFs over the same period. Notably, spot Bitcoin ETFs should have been included in this. Bianco used this analogy to demonstrate that Vanguard’s decision to spot Bitcoin ETFs had no adverse effect.
Bianco refuted reports alleging Buckley’s dismissal from Vanguard for not immediately adopting Bitcoin ETFs. He clarified further, stating he is retiring despite having around nine months remaining as Vanguard’s CEO.
“One of the most prosperous asset managers in Wall Street history will be Buckley’s legacy. Furthermore, Bianco continued to assert that implying his firing for allegedly “missing” one ETF, which may represent 1/1,000th of their entire holdings exceeding $9 trillion, is completely absurd.
