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 Wall Street name to the busy list of banks and firms with private bitcoin fund offerings on the books. JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley, the two biggest names, 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. It is custodied by Gemini, charges a 1% fee and is only open 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, giving mom-and-pop investors exposure to bitcoin without having to hold bitcoin itself.
VanEck did not immediately return CoinDesk’s calls.