Vanguard Group "Transition": TradFi giants open the doors to encryption ETF for 50 million customers.

Bloomberg reported that Vanguard, which manages over $11 trillion in assets, officially announced that starting from December 2, 2025, its over 50 million brokerage clients will be able to trade selected Crypto Assets ETFs and mutual funds on the platform.

These products include those that track mainstream Crypto Assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and Solana. This move marks a historic shift in stance for this financial giant, known for its conservative approach.

01 The Reversal of Position

The Vanguard Group is traditionally known in the financial world for its prudent and long-term value investment philosophy. For many years, the company has taken a strong stance against Crypto Assets, believing that they are highly speculative and lack intrinsic value, with even its founder suggesting that investors “avoid Bitcoin like the plague.”

Until early 2025, the company still prohibits customers from trading any spot Bitcoin or Ethereum ETF on its platform.

However, this policy was officially rewritten on December 2, 2025. Salim Ramji, the new CEO of Vanguard Group, led this strategic adjustment.

The new CEO, Salim Ramji, formerly an executive at BlackRock, is seen as a key catalyst for the strategic shift at Vanguard Group. Since its launch in January 2024, the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) under BlackRock has approached an asset management scale of nearly $80 billion, and its tremendous success has provided a clear model for the traditional asset management industry.

02 The Driving Forces of Change

The transformation of the Vanguard Group is not an isolated event, but rather the result of multiple forces acting together. Sustained and strong customer demand is the fundamental driving force.

Despite the fact that the market capitalization of Crypto Assets has evaporated by nearly 1 trillion USD since October 2024, institutional and retail interest in the allocation of Crypto Assets has not diminished.

The evolution of the regulatory environment has paved the way for institutional entry. The approval of spot encryption ETF by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has established a compliant bridge between traditional financial products and digital assets.

The strategy of the Vanguard Group is not to directly hold Crypto Assets or launch proprietary products, but to carefully select and introduce third-party ETFs and mutual funds that meet strict regulatory standards, while explicitly excluding products linked to highly volatile Meme coins.

This is in line with its consistent emphasis on risk management, low cost, and diversification as core investment principles.

03 Turbulent Market Background

The Pioneer Group chose to open trading at this time, coinciding with the cryptocurrency market experiencing extreme volatility. Just on the eve of the policy coming into effect on the night of December 1, the cryptocurrency market saw a sharp decline across the board.

Among them, the price of Bitcoin once dropped by 8%, falling to around 83,786 USD, with a cumulative decline of nearly 30% since the beginning of October. As of the morning of December 2, the price of Bitcoin was reported at 86,378 USD, down 5% for the day.

Other major Crypto Assets have also not been spared. The price of Ethereum has dropped below $2,800, with XRP, BNB, and Solana all experiencing declines of over 6%. This violent fluctuation has resulted in more than 270,000 people being liquidated within 24 hours, with a total liquidation amount reaching $985 million.

This decline is related to multiple factors, including concerns about the slowdown of capital inflow into Bitcoin ETFs and rumors that some institutions may sell Bitcoin to meet liquidity demands.

04 The Weight and Far-Reaching Impact of Giants

Vanguard Group manages over $11 trillion in assets, with more than 50 million clients. Even if only 1% of clients allocate 1% of their assets to Crypto Assets ETF, it could bring in billions of dollars in new inflows.

This level of recognition provides unprecedented credibility for Crypto Assets as a legitimate asset class.

For ordinary investors, this means they can gain exposure to Crypto Assets through regulated financial instruments without having to leave their familiar traditional brokerage platforms or learn to manage private keys and wallets, greatly reducing the participation threshold.

The decision of the Vanguard Group may create a “catfish effect,” forcing other conservative financial institutions that have yet to act to reassess their strategies, thus accelerating the overall traditional financial industry's acceptance of Crypto Assets.

05 Insights for Market Participants

For active users on professional trading platforms such as Gate, the entry of the Vanguard Group is a strong long-term positive signal.

It validates the resilience of the Crypto Assets market and the trend towards institutionalization, but the risks of short-term market volatility still exist, as recent crashes have warned.

Investors are advised to adopt a more cautious and long-term perspective in their allocation strategies. Vanguard Group, in its portfolio model, only recommends allocating “a small but strategically significant weight” to Crypto Assets, reflecting the art of balancing innovation and risk control among institutions.

With the arrival of more diversified Crypto Assets products like Grayscale Chainlink Trust on traditional exchanges, and countries like Japan planning to adjust the Crypto Assets tax system to activate the market, the integration of traditional finance and the encryption world is accelerating.

The actions of the Vanguard Group mark a turning point in an era. The asset management giant is no longer watching from the sidelines but is beginning to systematically guide mainstream funds into the digital asset space. This is of far greater significance for the maturation, stability, and long-term development of the entire Crypto Assets ecosystem than short-term price fluctuations.