VanEck Seeks SEC Approval to Launch First BNB ETF in US

In brief

Investment firm VanEck, which manages more than $110 billion in assets, filed on May 2 to debut a BNB ETF in the U.S.
VanEck’s application marks the first time a firm has applied to offer a spot BNB ETF to U.S. investors.
Issuers have filed proposals for a number of different altcoin-focused ETFs.

VanEck has applied for approval to launch an exchange-traded fund tracking the spot price of the BNB token, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.

The S-1 registration statement for the a fund that offers investors exposure to Binance Coin without requiring them to directly hold the asset, according to VanEck’s filing.

The application marks the first time an investment firm has signaled its potential plans to debut a BNB ETF in the U.S.

BNB is the native token of Binance, the world’s largest centralized cryptocurrency exchange by daily trading volumes, CoinGecko data shows. Traders can use the asset across the Binance ecosystem to receive discounts on transaction and trading fees, interact with decentralized applications and pay for goods and services, among other use cases.

BNB is trading at $599 as of writing time, up nearly 2% in the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko.

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VanEck’s latest crypto ETF proposal comes as asset managers increasingly seek regulatory approval for digital asset-based funds in the U.S. amid the country’s ratcheted back crypto industry regulations and as investor demand for crypto-focused products has grown.

The election last year of U.S. President Donald Trump, whose family has strong financial ties to the digital assets industry, kicked off a filing frenzy among investment firms for an array of ETFs based on various cryptocurrencies—from Solana to meme coins such as Dogecoin, BONK and Official Trump—and even NFTs.

The filing also comes as spot Bitcoin ETFs attract strong inflows in the U.S., amassing $1.8 billion just last week. Since their approvals last year, spot Bitcoin ETFs have reached a combined market capitalization of $112 billion, while spot Ethereum ETFs have brought in solid, albeit more modest inflows, according to CoinGlass data.

Although VanEck is the only asset manager to have officially proposed a spot BNB ETF in the U.S., at least one investment firm is already managing a BNB-based investment vehicle in Europe. Since 2019, Switzerland-based 21Shares has offered its 21Shares Binance BNB ETP, which is listed on several European exchanges.

Edited by James Rubin