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Retiring CEO of Giant Asset Manager Vanguard Shunned Bitcoin ETFs. Will His Replacement?

The question some are now asking is whether the firm will pivot on crypto after Tim Buckley leaves.

Vanguard logo (John Keeble/Getty Images)
Vanguard logo (John Keeble/Getty Images)

Tim Buckley, the Vanguard CEO under whose watch the giant asset manager has shunned spot bitcoin ETFs, will retire this year and a search is underway for his replacement, according to a statement from the company.

While other major U.S. financial institutions have embraced the recently approved bitcoin ETFs, Vanguard has stood out for not allowing its brokerage customers to do so.

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The Thursday announcement of Buckley's impending departure has some wondering on social media whether this has something to do with that stance – and whether Vanguard might change its mind under new leadership.

Whether it even needs to bother is another question. Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart noted Thursday that one of Vanguard's ETFs, VOO, which tracks the S&P 500 Index, has attracted $15.7 billion in net new money so far this year, double what BlackRock's spot bitcoin ETF, IBIT, has collected.

Vanguard is "doing just fine my friends," Seyffart posted on X.

Nick Baker

Nick Baker was CoinDesk's deputy editor-in-chief. He won a Loeb Award for editing CoinDesk's coverage of FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried, including Ian Allison's scoop that caused SBF's empire to collapse. Before joining in 2022, he worked at Bloomberg News for 16 years as a reporter, editor and manager. Previously, he was a reporter at Dow Jones Newswires, wrote for The Wall Street Journal and earned a journalism degree from Ohio University. He owns more than $1,000 of BTC and SOL.

Nick Baker