In a significant development for the cryptocurrency market, Bitwise's XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF) is now accessible to clients of Vanguard, one of the world's largest asset managers. This announcement was made by Bitwise Chief Executive Officer Hunter Horsley via social media. The XRP product commenced trading on November 20, demonstrating rather impressive inflows since its launch.

This move represents a major reversal for Vanguard, a company long recognized as a conservative powerhouse within traditional investing circles. With over $11 trillion in assets under management, Vanguard has historically maintained a strict prohibition on crypto-related products on its platform. This conservative stance was evident when it even blocked client access to spot Bitcoin ETFs upon their launch in January 2024.

However, the landscape at Vanguard is now shifting. As reported by Bloomberg, more than 50 million of Vanguard's customers are now enabled to trade select crypto ETFs and mutual funds that hold cryptocurrency assets. Rumors regarding Vanguard's complete U-turn on crypto investments began circulating as early as late September, as previously reported by U.Today. Consequently, this official reversal did not come as a complete surprise to the market, which may explain a relatively muted crypto rally following the news.

Despite this substantial policy change and the opening of its platform to certain cryptocurrency products, the $10 trillion financial giant has reportedly clarified that it has no immediate plans to emulate its rival, BlackRock, by launching its own proprietary cryptocurrency ETF.