Can Bitcoin be saved? Vanguard will open investment in crypto ETFs, and 50 million users will have trillions of dollars of funds pouring in

Vanguard, the second largest giant in the U.S. asset management industry, unexpectedly reversed its policy and will allow its 50 million customers to trade cryptocurrency ETFs, breaking its once strong rejection of crypto assets. Although new CEO Salim Ramji only announced in August that he would not launch a crypto product, continued retail and institutional demand ultimately shook the financial giant’s resolve.
(Previous summary: Vanguard’s new CEO poured cold water: he will not provide Bitcoin ETF and cryptocurrency trading services)
(Background supplement: JPMorgan Chase will accept Bitcoin and Ethereum as collateral for institutional loans, ushering in a new era on Wall Street)

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Anguard’s reversal is difficult to predict. This company manages US$11 trillion in global assets and services more than 5,000 The financial empire with thousands of customers once turned its nose up at Bitcoin ETFs. Former CEO Tim Buckley bluntly stated in May 2024 that "Bitcoin should not appear in long-term retirement investment portfolios." But times have changed. Although new CEO Salim Ramji still politely refused to launch crypto products in August, within a few months, the company has given the green light to crypto assets. This change not only reflects the unstoppable power of the market, but also indicates that the real door to Wall Street is opening.

Vanguard’s move marks the gradual breakdown of barriers between traditional finance and the crypto market. When the second largest asset management company begins to compromise with crypto, what reason do other institutions on the sidelines have to wait? Vanguard's decision will directly affect how tens of millions of potential investors allocate their assets. The scale of its potential buying is difficult to quantify, but its impact is obvious.

Crypto Green Light for Fifty Million Customers

According to a statement from a Vanguard spokesperson, the company will allow customers to trade crypto ETFs and mutual funds through third parties, similar to how it handles gold investments. This means Vanguard will not issue crypto products directly, but its large user base will gain access to ETFs including Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP and Solana.

Vanguard specifically emphasizes that only ETFs that meet regulatory standards will be included on the platform, and has explicitly excluded memecoins and other high-risk assets. This reflects the risk control prudence that Vanguard still maintains, but it also shows that in the face of standardized encryption products, the former "disbelief" has turned into "trust".

• Global asset size: USD 11 trillion in asset management, second only to BlackRock’s USD 12 trillion
• User base: 50 million customers, representing the typical investor group of the American middle class
• Allowed assets: BTC, ETH, XRP, SOL related ETF, compliant with regulatory standards
• Launch time: Trading permissions will begin on December 3, 2025 (Tuesday)

Transformation from tough refusal to forced compromise

Behind Vanguard’s policy reversal is a huge gap in market demand. The company has come under fire from users for refusing to offer a Bitcoin ETF, with some investors even threatening to close their accounts. Former CEO Tim Buckley emphasized “volatility” and “speculation,” but as Bitcoin ETFs become mainstream financial products around the world, these reasons have gradually lost their persuasiveness.

New CEO Salim Ramji, who was the former head of BlackRock’s global ETF business and oversaw the historic approval of a Bitcoin spot ETF, was supposed to be the driving force. Yet even so, he advocated caution in the early days of his tenure until persistent market pressures finally overwhelmed corporate conservatism. This reflects the reality that, regardless of a CEO's personal views, the triple pressure of shareholders, customers, and competitors ultimately rewrites corporate strategy. A Vanguard spokesperson said:

We serve millions of investors with diverse needs and risk tolerances, and our goal is to provide brokerage clients with a platform that allows them to invest in the products of their choice.

The subtext of this sentence is clear: customer sovereignty trumps corporate ideology. When investors vote with their feet and express their needs with their accounts, no institution can resist the power of the market for a long time.

Omens and market potential of institutional buying

The most important thing about Vanguard’s open policy is not the retail users, but the institutional signals behind it. The company's actions will inspire other large asset managers to follow suit, including rivals such as Fidelity and Schwab. Once the entire traditional financial ecosystem opens the door to crypto-assets, institutional buying will be unprecedentedly large.

From a data perspective, this is a "trillion-level" game. The world's major asset managers have a combined AUM of more than $100 trillion, and if each allocated just 1% of total crypto assets, it would bring more than $1 trillion in entry capital to Bitcoin and Ethereum. As a pioneer in this wave of entry, Vanguard's guiding effect will be far beyond its $11 trillion in assets.

Crypto analyst Nilesh Rohilla predicts that "Bitcoin will rise by at least 5% in 24 hours." X user BankXRP called it "a huge signal that traditional finance has officially entered digital assets." Vivek Sen, founder of Bitcoin PR, even more radically claimed that “trillions of dollars of funds are about to pour in.”

These forecasts may be overly optimistic, but the psychology they reflect is very real: market participants have identified the opening of Vanguard as the landmark event that truly kicks off institutional-level buying.