Tim Buckley, the Vanguard CEO under whose watch the giant asset manager has shunned spot bitcoin ETFs, will retire this year and a search is underway for his replacement, according to a statement from the company.

While other major U.S. financial institutions have embraced the recently approved bitcoin ETFs, Vanguard has stood out for not allowing its brokerage customers to do so.

The Thursday announcement of Buckley's impending departure has some wondering on social media whether this has something to do with that stance – and whether Vanguard might change its mind under new leadership.

Whether it even needs to bother is another question. Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart noted Thursday that one of Vanguard's ETFs, VOO, which tracks the S&P 500 Index, has attracted $15.7 billion in net new money so far this year, double what BlackRock's spot bitcoin ETF, IBIT, has collected.

Vanguard is "doing just fine my friends," Seyffart posted on X.