Overview
- Trading is now live on Vanguard’s U.S. brokerage for third-party funds holding Bitcoin, Ether, XRP and Solana, extending access to crypto-focused ETFs and mutual funds.
- More than 50 million brokerage clients at a firm managing roughly $11 trillion can now buy regulated crypto wrappers through their existing accounts.
- Vanguard is allowing only SEC-supported products and continues to block memecoin-linked funds, direct crypto trading and any Vanguard-branded crypto offerings, treating the category like other non-core assets such as gold.
- Head of brokerage and investments Andrew Kadjeski said crypto ETFs and mutual funds have performed as designed during market stress and that servicing processes have matured.
- The move reverses years of restrictions under prior leadership and follows the surge of spot crypto ETFs since 2024, with Bitcoin ETFs around $120 billion in assets and BlackRock’s IBIT near $70 billion, while analysts say flows from Vanguard clients will hinge on behavior and market conditions.