Vanguard Opens Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and Solana Trading: Institutions Just Flipped the Entire Crypto Market
A new Santiment post is lighting up the crypto feeds today, and for good reason — one of the most powerful financial giants on the planet has quietly flipped its stance on digital assets. Vanguard, which manages more than $11 trillion, has now opened trading for spot Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and Solana ETFs to over 50 million clients, marking one of the largest institutional pivots in crypto’s history.
This shift follows years of resistance from Vanguard, which previously blocked access to crypto ETFs entirely. Now, customers can buy spot BTC, ETH, XRP, and SOL ETFs directly through the platform, creating an instant bridge between traditional finance and the largest assets in the market. According to Santiment, the move is already showing up in rising on-chain activity and growing social volume across top networks.
The timing couldn’t be more significant. Ethereum is preparing for its Fusaka upgrade; one of its most important scalability updates in years. XRP’s exchange supply has collapsed by more than 45% in 60 days as ETF speculation builds. Solana continues to dominate on-chain activity with record-speed volumes, and Bitcoin is stabilizing after a rough November that saw a 22% drawdown.
At the same time, Bank of America is preparing to allow its wealth advisers to recommend a 1%–4% allocation to Bitcoin and crypto beginning in January 2026. When America’s largest banks start telling clients to own crypto (and one of the world’s biggest asset managers opens full ETF access), the signal is clear: institutional reluctance has turned into institutional adoption.
The broader macro backdrop adds even more weight to this shift. Liquidity indicators are improving, stablecoin demand is rising (with Tether minting $1 billion on Tron just this week) and market participants are watching for a potential rebound fueled by ETF inflows.
Santiment’s post frames this moment as the inflection point: the traditional financial system, which spent a decade resisting crypto integration, is now onboarding Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and Solana at scale. It’s not just a policy change, it’s a structural shift in how capital will flow into digital assets heading into 2026.
Whether this triggers an immediate market reaction or a delayed one, one thing is becoming obvious: the walls between legacy finance and crypto are finally starting to come down.
Read also: New Data Shows Institutions Are Choosing XRP Over Bitcoin and Ethereum
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