Vanguard’s Bitcoin Skepticism Clashes with Reality: 20M+ Shares in Crypto Strategy as Index Inflows Surge

Wall Street's favorite contradiction just got juicier.

Vanguard—the trillion-dollar asset manager that famously avoids Bitcoin like a boomer avoids TikTok—now holds over 20 million shares in a crypto-linked strategy. Guess those index inflows talk louder than corporate memos.

Behind the Irony Curtain

While Vanguard's PR team keeps preaching about Bitcoin's 'speculative nature,' their portfolio managers quietly hoovered up enough shares to make a crypto bro blush. Passive investing wins again—even when it's accidental.

The numbers don't lie: 20 million+ shares don't buy themselves. Some quant probably got a bonus for this 'hedge.'

Finance's open secret? Everyone hates crypto until their AUM needs rescuing. Another quarter, another quiet capitulation to blockchain's gravitational pull.

Irony of Vanguard holding BTC firms

Vanguard has a longstanding skepticism of all crypto assets, including Bitcoin. Notably, the firm has not entered the bitcoin ETF race and stated that it had no plans to do so. The firm has stated that crypto has no place among equities, bonds, and cash, which makes for a balanced and long-term investment portfolio.

Yet despite that stance, it has become one of the largest institutional holders of Strategy. To Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, this represents a twist of fate.

“Vanguard chose this life. When you have an index fund, you have to own all the stocks, for better or worse, and that includes stocks that you may not like or approve of personally,” Eric Balchunas, Bloomberg Intelligence.

Vanguard has historically taken a conservative approach to investing, viewing crypto assets as too volatile for its client base. However, there are signs that its position may be evolving. In January, Balchunas predicted that Vanguard would eventually soften its stance on Bitcoin exposure and ETFs.