Vanguard spent years telling everyone it wasn’t interested in crypto. No Bitcoin ETFs. No crypto products on its platform. CEO Salim Ramji said in 2024 they wouldn’t “copy competitors.”
That stance is shifting.
The asset manager is now hiring a head of digital assets. The job posting says this person will lead strategy on tokenization, stablecoins, blockchain infrastructure, and client-facing digital asset products. They’ll also represent Vanguard with regulators and industry groups.
ETF analyst Nate Geraci flagged the irony on X. Vanguard blocked customers from buying spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs through its brokerage. Now it’s building out a digital assets strategy. “Life moves pretty fast,” he wrote.
Vanguard manages about $12.5 trillion globally. That’s a lot of money potentially moving into digital asset territory.
The broader trend is clear. Franklin Templeton manages $2.5 billion in tokenized assets. BlackRock has about $2.3 billion. WisdomTree’s tokenized Treasury fund passed $700 million. JPMorgan filed to launch a tokenized money market fund in May. State Street launched a government money market fund for stablecoin reserves.
Fidelity’s blockchain-based liquidity fund got its first crypto-native investment last month when Theo allocated $20 million.
The tokenized real-world asset market sits at $33.5 billion, including $14.9 billion in tokenized US Treasury products. That number keeps growing.
Vanguard’s move doesn’t mean they’ll suddenly list Bitcoin ETFs. But hiring a digital assets chief signals they see where things are headed. Even the holdouts eventually come around.
