- Bloomberg ETF strategist Eric Balchunas predicts that Vanguard may eventually enter the Bitcoin ETF space despite its current reluctance.
- Despite Vanguard’s cautious approach to the cryptocurrency market, the firm continues to thrive in traditional finance, registering significant inflows totaling $30 billion since the BTC ETF launch.
Bloomberg’s senior ETF strategist Eric Balchunas once again shared one of his previous projections that asset management giant Vanguard will eventually start offering Bitcoin ETF services. Despite giants like BlackRock and Fidelity entering into this space, Vanguard has refrained from offering the Bitcoin investment product.
Last month, Eric Balchunas said that Vanguard’s position of not indulging in Bitcoin ETFs could soften in the coming years as the asset management giant looks to expand its advisory business. Balchunas believes that offering Bitcoin ETFs could help Vanguard grow its wealth management business, in addition to offering its own funds.
Here's my rational for that take fwiw pic.twitter.com/sSlyNjqZ9v
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) February 20, 2024
Despite not offering Bitcoin ETFs, Vanguard continues to march forward strongly registering $30 billion in inflows since the ETF launch last month. This is nearly 6 times more than the total inflows into the spot Bitcoin ETFs.
The recent influx underscores Vanguard’s dominance in traditional finance (TradFi), notwithstanding the remarkable expansion of the crypto sector and the considerable buzz surrounding Bitcoin ETFs. Vanguard, guided by the conservative investment philosophy pioneered by its late founder, Jack Bogle, prioritizes assets with tangible returns like dividends and interest payments.
It remains wary of the speculative aspects of the cryptocurrency market. This stance has sparked the Boycott Vanguard movement on social media, although Vanguard has remained steadfast in its approach, even withdrawing futures-backed Bitcoin funds from its platform.
Bitcoin ETFs Continue to Dominate Inflows
In his post on the X platform, Bloomberg ETF strategist Eric Balchunas celebrated a remarkable milestone: a combined trading volume soaring to nearly $2 billion, driven largely by impressive performances from $HODL, $BTCW, and $BITB, all of which shattered their previous volume records.
Balchunas highlighted the significance of this feat by putting it into perspective: the $2 billion trading volume positions The Nine ETFs among the top 10 ETFs and the top 20 individual stocks in terms of trading activity.
The Nine had biggest volume day since Day One with about $2b in combined trading thx to big contributions from $HODL, $BTCW and $BITB which all broke their personal records. For context $2b in trading would put them in Top 10ish among ETFs and Top 20ish among stocks. It's a lot. pic.twitter.com/547pIl5grI
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) February 20, 2024
Additionally, VanEck’s spot Bitcoin ETF experienced a remarkable surge, with its trading volume exceeding $300 million, a substantial leap from its previous best trading day. According to data from Yahoo Finance, the ETF achieved its highest daily trading volume of $25.5 million on its launch day, January 11th.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin advocate and MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor reaffirmed his commitment to retaining MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin holdings in the short term. He underscored the significant flow of capital from traditional systems into digital platforms through Bitcoin ETFs, emphasizing Bitcoin’s increasing value relative to assets like gold, real estate, and the S&P Index.
Despite the strong ETF inflows, the Bitcoin price continues to trade around $52,000. At press time, the BTC price is facing some selling pressure down by 0.50% at a price of $51,568.
