Cathie Wood is openly welcoming Vanguard investors to the world of Bitcoin through her ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB).
In her announcement, she has stressed that Bitcoin is a “profound technological and monetary innovation.”
Vanguard’s U-turn
Vanguard investors can now get exposure to Bitcoin without needing to deal with the usual complications of owning it directly (like setting up a crypto wallet or managing private keys). They can simply add the ETF to their existing brokerage accounts.
The financial giant has reversed its long‑standing ban on cryptocurrency investment products. Starting Dec. 2, clients on Vanguard’s brokerage platform can now buy and trade regulated cryptocurrency exchange‑traded funds (ETFs) and mutual funds.
The permitted products include funds tied to major digital assets like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), XRP, and Solana (SOL).
Vanguard is one of the largest asset managers globally, with over $11 trillion in assets under management and a client base of more than 50 million brokerage accounts.
“A new era”
In the meantime, Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley has just announced that a major wealth management firm with $350 billion in assets under management (AUM) and about 10,000 financial advisors has just approved the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF ($BITB) for its clients.
Horsley claims that the cryptocurrency industry is now entering “a new era.”