Merrill Lynch, owned by Bank of America, $BAC, is reportedly not allowing customers to buy spot Bitcoin ETFs

Merrill Lynch, owned by Bank of America, $BAC, is reportedly not allowing customers to buy spot Bitcoin ETFs, per FOX.

Vanguard, a major global asset manager, has ALSO opted not to allow its customers to purchase recently approved bitcoin ETFs. An attempt to invest in BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) or Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) via a Vanguard retirement brokerage account triggered a warning stating that the "trade cannot be completed."

The message clarified, "Buy orders are not currently accepted for this security," and elaborated that securities might be unavailable for purchase at Vanguard due to factors such as regulatory restrictions, corporate actions, or various trading and/or settlement limitations.

A spokesperson from Vanguard informed CoinDesk that "spot Bitcoin ETFs will not be available for purchase on the Vanguard platform," and the company has no intentions to offer Vanguard Bitcoin ETFs or other crypto-related products. The spokesperson attributed this decision to the misalignment of crypto-related products with Vanguard's focus on asset classes that "build blocks of a well-balanced, long-term investment portfolio."

Vanguard's stance contrasts with the embrace of bitcoin ETFs by some of its major competitors, including BlackRock, Fidelity, and Invesco, which have introduced bitcoin ETFs that commenced trading on Thursday after receiving approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday.

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