VanEck Proposes First US BNB ETF
If approved, the fund would be the first BNB-linked exchange-traded fund in the U.S.
Helen Brown | Edited by Nikhilesh De May 6, 2025, 2:15 PM
Key points:
- VanEck has filed with the SEC to create the first U.S. ETF that will track the Binance BNB token and its underlying blockchain.
- The planned ETF includes staking rewards, which could indicate a possible change in the SEC's stance on ETF staking under new Chairman Paul Atkins.
- A final decision won't be made for several months; VanEck must first file a Form 19b-4, which will require a response from the SEC within a set time frame.
VanEck has filed paperwork to sell shares of an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that will track the Binance crypto exchange blockchain.
On Monday, the asset manager filed an S-1 for the BNB ETF with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), becoming the first potential issuer to file for such a fund in the U.S. BNB is the native token for the BNB Chain, which was introduced by Binance in 2017.
Investors in the fund, if approved, would also be able to earn staking rewards and additional tokens, as well as other income, according to the filing. The SEC, under former Chairman Gary Gensler, had a hard line against staking, leading several ether (ETH) spot ETFs to not include the feature.
However, there is hope that new chairman Paul Atkins will be more open to approving the feature for future products. Last month, Grayscale filed an amended document with the SEC to allow staking in its Ethereum ETFs, and hedge fund Canary Capital recently proposed a Tron ETF with staking capabilities.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has yet to rule on these applications, leading to delays in crypto ETF filing deadlines in recent weeks.
VanEck is expected to file a 19b-4 following the initial filing to formally confirm its intentions and communicate with the regulator within a relatively specific time frame.
BNB has a market cap of $83.9 billion and is trading at $596 at press time, up about 0.27% over the past 24 hours. It is the fifth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap.
