Morning Minute is a daily newsletter written by Tyler Warner. The analysis and opinions expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Decrypt. Subscribe to the Morning Minute on Substack.
One of the final anti-crypto financial giants just capitulated.
Vanguard is opening its doors to crypto.
Vanguard, the $9T asset manager that spent a decade telling everyone crypto was too speculative, just flipped.
Starting today, customers can buy Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP ETFs directly through their Vanguard brokerage accounts.
It’s one of the biggest psychological unlocks in the history of crypto adoption.
Vanguard quietly rolled out support for spot and futures crypto ETFs, including funds tied to BTC, ETH, XRP and even Solana.
To be clear, this doesn’t mean Vanguard is launching its own ETF. It’s simply allowing third-party issuers onto its platform.
But that alone is a big shift.
“Starting tmrw vanguard will allow ETFs and MFs tracking bitcoin and select other cryptos to begin trading on their platform. They cite how the ETfs have been tested performed as designed through multiple periods of volatility.” – Bloomberg ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas, on X
“Vanguard 2024: “#Bitcoin isn’t a store of value. We’ll never offer ETFs.”
Vanguard 2025: “Bitcoin trading starts tomorrow.” – TFTC on X
“Vanguard wants its clients to enter at the bottom of the bitcoin cycle. As always timing matters.” James Van Stratten, on X
For years, Vanguard took a hard-line stance against crypto and its ETFs.
Now it’s giving tens of millions of retail and retirement investors access to regulated crypto products right next to their index funds.
This unlocks an entirely new class of investor — the retirement saver, the index-fund loyalist, the “I don’t trade but I want exposure” crowd.
These investors don’t move the market intraday, but over months and years, they reshape flows.
This is the infinite twap. It’s finally here.
Vanguard also represents something bigger: the capitulation of traditional finance to the idea that crypto belongs in a standard investment menu.
It signals to regulators that digital assets are now part of normal portfolio construction.
And it creates pressure on remaining holdouts.
Most importantly, it shows that crypto is graduating from an alternative asset into a mainstream option.
Here’s a rundown of major token, protocol and airdrop news from the day:
Here is the list of other notable headlines from the day in NFTs:
