Bitcoin compared to ‘digital plush toy’ as Vanguard analyst questions its value, even while firm opens crypto ETF access
A senior Vanguard executive has sparked debate in the crypto news and crypto pur communities by likening Bitcoin to a collectible plush toy, arguing it remains mostly a speculative asset even as his firm finally opens the door to crypto exchange-traded funds for its clients. His remarks highlight the lingering skepticism toward blockchain technology inside parts of traditional finance, despite Bitcoin’s multitrillion‑dollar footprint and 16‑year uptime.
Vanguard quant chief calls Bitcoin a ‘digital Labubu’
John Ameriks, global head of quantitative equity at Vanguard, told attendees at Bloomberg’s ETFs in Depth conference in New York that it is “difficult” for him to see Bitcoin as anything more than a “digital Labubu,” referencing a popular line of collectible plush animal toys. In his view, current BTC demand is driven primarily by speculation and collector‑style behavior rather than fundamentals such as cash flow, dividends, or legal tender status.
Ameriks did acknowledge that Bitcoin could gain more robust, non‑speculative use cases under certain macro conditions. In particular, he pointed to environments with high fiat inflation or pronounced political instability, where households and businesses increasingly seek alternatives to local currencies. In such scenarios, permissionless digital assets secured by blockchain technology could evolve beyond a “toy” into a genuine parallel store of value or transactional medium.
Bitcoin’s role under inflation and instability
From a macro perspective, Ameriks’ comments align with a pattern already visible in some emerging and frontier economies: when local currencies suffer rapid devaluation or capital controls tighten, interest in decentralized assets often rises. For the crypto pur community, this is one of the core long‑term theses for Bitcoin, an asset that is borderless, programmatically scarce, and not directly controlled by any central bank or government.
However, Ameriks’ framing underscores a divide between traditional asset managers and crypto‑native investors. Where many in crypto see Bitcoin as a strategic hedge or “digital gold,” some in legacy finance still view it as an unproven, highly volatile instrument whose real‑world utility will remain limited unless extreme macro conditions become more common in major developed markets.
Vanguard finally allows crypto ETFs, but no advice
The plush‑toy analogy landed just as Vanguard implemented a policy shift that allows its clients to trade crypto‑linked ETFs on its platform for the first time. Until this change, Vanguard was the last of the “big three” US asset managers alongside BlackRock and State Street to hold out against offering any form of retail crypto exposure.
Ameriks emphasized that, while clients can now buy and sell crypto funds via Vanguard accounts, the firm will not actively promote them or offer specific recommendations on whether to own digital assets or which tokens to choose. In other words, Vanguard is providing access for those who insist on participating in the crypto market, but it is not shifting its core investment philosophy toward embracing Bitcoin as a strategic allocation on par with stocks or bonds.
This approach is consistent with Vanguard’s broader branding as a cautious, low‑cost provider focused on long‑term index investing. It also makes clear that, internally, significant skepticism remains about the risk‑reward profile of crypto assets.
A major new bridge between TradFi and crypto
Even with reservations, Vanguard’s move is a big deal for the broader crypto ecosystem. The firm services more than 50 million clients worldwide, many of whom hold retirement and brokerage accounts that previously had no direct pathway into crypto ETFs. By enabling these trades, Vanguard effectively opens another large funnel of potential capital into Bitcoin and other blockchain‑based assets.
Fresh inflows from such a large investor base could support liquidity and, over time, prices for cryptocurrencies heavily represented in ETF products. It also deepens the integration between traditional finance and onchain markets, reinforcing a trend where blue‑chip institutions act as gateways into digital assets even when their own analysts publicly question those assets’ intrinsic value.
For the crypto pur community, the juxtaposition is striking: one of the world’s most conservative asset managers now helps route client money into Bitcoin, even as a top executive compares it to a digital plush toy. Yet history suggests that access often matters more than rhetoric; as more investors gain exposure through familiar wrappers like ETFs, Bitcoin’s role within the global financial system continues to expand, regardless of lingering skepticism from parts of Wall Street.
