Crypto Shock: Vanguard Blocks Bitcoin Futures Offerings

According to the latest reports, it seems that Vanguard has blocked the Bitcoin futures offerings. Check out the latest reports about this below.

Vanguard, a leading asset management company based in Pennsylvania has decided to distance itself from the cryptocurrency market, particularly spot and futures Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Despite other asset managers rushing to offer these new products to their clients, Vanguard has made it clear that it will not be making these ETFs available on its platform.

Says a Vanguard spokesperson to Axios,

“In addition to spot Bitcoin ETFs not being available for purchase on the Vanguard platform, effective immediately, Vanguard will no longer accept the purchase of cryptocurrency products, including Bitcoin futures ETFs.”

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) gave approval to various Bitcoin ETF applications on Wednesday. The approved applicants include big names such as BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, VanEck, Bitwise, Franklin, Valkyrie, Hashdex, Ark Invest, WisdomTree and Invesco Galaxy.

However, Vanguard decided not to join in on the Bitcoin ETF trend. According to a Vanguard representative, the company’s decision to stay away from cryptocurrencies aligns with its customers’ needs.

“This change allows us to focus on offering a core set of products and services consistent with our commitment to serve the needs of long-term investors.”

In other recent news, the Securities and Exchange Commission addressed the recent hijacking of its X account, through which an unknown agent posted a false spot Bitcoin ETF approval announcement.

In a statement attributed to SEC Chair Gary Gensler, the agency claims “an unauthorized party gained access to the @SECGov X.com account by obtaining control over the phone number associated with the account.”

This language is similar to SIM-swapping attacks, a common type of account hijacking that can be prevented with multi-factor authentication. Gensler had previously recommended multi-factor authentication in his own post.