The concept of Bitcoin-related investment funds has been of great appeal to companies. In fact, we have seen dozens of such projects come to market last year. One player adamantly refusing to embrace Bitcoin is Vanguard. CEO Tim Buckley is keen on the blockchain, but couldn’t care less about the cryptocurrency which made it popular. A very interesting decision, although it makes sense. The group wants to stay away from assets without underlying economic value.
Vanguard is a well-respected entity in the world of finance. The company has $4.5tn in assets under their management as of this moment. That is quite a substantial amount of money. One would expect such entities to focus on the new and popular trends in the market. More specifically, it would make sense for Vanguard to launch a Bitcoin fund at some point in the future. No one needs to hold their breath, though, as that will never happen.
No Bitcoin Fund for Bitcoin
More specifically, Vanguard CEO Tim Buckley made that clear to CNBC today. He doesn’t believe in Bitcoin or the value people associate with this cryptocurrency. In his opinion, the atheist wouldn’t generate earnings or cash flows. A very interesting statement that will spark some discussions. Given the current bearish Bitcoin price outlook, launching such a fund isn’t even attractive. In fact, it is very well possible the bubble has effectively burst and Bitcoin is bleeding out slowly.
It is quite interesting to note Buckley is a big fan of blockchain technology. This is the same technology which got on people’s radar because of Bitcoin. One can certainly have one without the other these days. However, a distributed ledger and a blockchain are not the same either. it is unclear if Buckley prefers DLT over blockchain these days. For all we know, he can’t even tell the difference between the two. Not the person anyone would want to manage their assets in this day and age.
For the time being, Vanguard will maintain the negative attitude toward Bitcoin. The company has built up a reputation for being rather conservative at all times. It is not surprising they want to steer away from Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. After all, these currencies could make their entire portfolio moot in the coming years. Everything in the financial world lacks underlying economic value. As long as enough people agree to it something will have value. Bitcoin is absolutely no different in that regard.
Header image courtesy of Shutterstock