VanEck, Waiting for Verdict on Bitcoin ETF, Starts Taking Private Crypto Bets

Mutual fund manager VanEck has begun stashing select bitcoin bets in a private crypto fund, courting well-heeled investors while the firm waits for a verdict on its latest bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) bid.

The debut adds another investment firm to the list of banks and firms with private bitcoin fund offerings on their books. JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley, two Wall Street heavyweights, both entered crypto through private funds. 

“VanEck Bitcoin Tracker Fund, LP” held one $10 million investment Thursday, according to regulatory documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Gemini Trust Co. is providing custody services for the fund, which charges a 1% fee and is open only to accredited investors and certain offshore accounts, according to offering documents reviewed by CoinDesk. The $10 million appears to be seeded by VanEck and its affiliates, according to one of the documents. 

VanEck is hardly a newcomer to crypto. A specialist firm for mutual funds and ETFs, the New York company has tried (and failed) for many years to launch a bitcoin ETF in the U.S. 

Such a product would be widely available to U.S. investors, as opposed to far more limited private funds. An ETF would give mom-and-pop investors exposure to bitcoin without those investors having to hold bitcoin itself. 

VanEck did not immediately return CoinDesk’s calls for comment.