2nd December 2025 > > Vanguard & LINK.

tl;dr

That whiff of melting rubber heralds Vanguard’s conversion to the crypto revolution. The CCC always welcomes some LINK action.

Market Snap

Market Wrap

Following yesterday’s CCC it has been pointed out that other commentators are blaming the early Monday morning sell-off in BTC for the potential unwind of the yen carry trade based upon the 78% chance or so of an increase in the short-term yen rate, manipulated by the Bank of Japan.

I suspect that the sudden and widely disseminated flurry of that explanation was driven by a desire by some to try to make themselves look clever by discussing the yen carry trade without really understanding what it means. Ever since the BOJ embarked on total yield curve control decades ago, the yen carry trade has fallen in and out of favour innumerable times. There is certainly an element of correlation between the perceived health of financial markets, and the outstanding amount of the yen carry trade, but surely by now no-one continues to make the mistake of confusing correlation with causation. I can promise you that marginal unwinds of the yen carry trade are merely a reflection of other events or of market sentiment.

Regardless, we can’t fully explain moves in price of less than 7% in such a volatile asset as BTC. Speculators wish that we could, because they simply lose money all the time trying to time the markets. Long-term investors know that the fundamental base case for BTC is as strong as ever, and that is why they remain long-term investors.

Curious Crypto’s Commentary – Vanguard

Vanguard has long been anti-crypto with former CEO Tim Buckley publicly decrying BTC based on all those old tropes of merely being a conduit for nefarious activities whilst being environmentally damaging. Regular readers know the exact opposite to be true, but some people are too lazy to educate themselves.

Buckley lost his job to be replaced by Salim Ramji, formerly head of BlackRock’s ETF division, who personally oversaw the introduction of the very first spot BTC ETF, suggesting a screeching strategic U-turn was in the offing. And so it has proved, for from today, Vanguard’s website makes these products available for its clients, whose number is less than what it would have been if the firm had not tried to make a foolhardy stand against liberty, freedom, and privacy. But one cannot change the past, only the future, and that is what Salim is doing on behalf of Vanguard shareholders:

There is a whole bunch of other spot crypto ETFs on offer too.

Despite its strategic misstep, Vanguard remains a giant in the financial services industry with $11 TRILLION AUM, of which 80% or so is passive. If we use my yardstick of 3% to 5% of all investment money will eventually flow into cryptos, mostly BTC, that is another $330bn to $550bn heading our way.

It’s always pleasing to see the Luddites come out of the shadows and into the light. Greetings Vanguard clients, you are welcome here.

Curious Crypto’s Commentary – spot LINK ETF

LINK needs no introduction to regular readers, as it has been part of the CC Treasury reserves since as far back as June 2019 when you could pick it up for less than a dollar, compared to today’s price of $12.

11,000% return in just over six years on the CC’s first LINK investment is juicy in anyone’s books, perhaps to be dwarfed in the coming years, though that is merely my opinion, and is not an exhortation to add LINK to your own crypto portfolio.

The very first spot LINK ETF has been approved for trading on NYSE ARCA. It’s only fair to point out that this is a conversion of the Grayscale LINK Trust but nonetheless it demonstrates that there are no barriers to crypto adoption being falsely constructed by rogue regulators anymore. Expect more spot LINK ETFs to follow.