VanEck launches first US spot BNB ETF on Nasdaq

VanEck has launched the first U.S. spot BNB ETF on Nasdaq under the ticker VBNB, giving traditional brokerage investors direct exposure to the BNB token. The fund has attracted roughly $2 million in assets since launch, according to VanEck Director of Digital Assets Product Kyle DaCruz — a modest start, but the product itself opens a regulated US venue for an asset that previously required offshore or trust-based wrappers.

Why it matters

DaCruz, speaking on CoinDesk and Bloomberg's Public Keys podcast, framed the launch around usage rather than technical roadmaps. He cited 33 million monthly active users and 2.1 million daily active users on BNB Chain, alongside roughly $100 billion in monthly stablecoin transfer volume and $16 billion in stablecoins minted on the network. "We focus on blockchains with measurable adoption rather than purely technical promises," DaCruz said, explicitly distinguishing revenue-generating networks from what he called "ghost chains."

The firm is positioning BNB as a revenue chain, not a narrative bet. DaCruz pegged BNB's annual revenue at roughly $160 million and grouped it with Hyperliquid as an example of a blockchain producing tangible economic value — a pitch aimed at advisors who, in his telling, are growing less interested in technical distinctions between Layer-1s and more interested in sustainable business models.

Market impact

The immediate AUM number is small, but VanEck's framing matters more than the launch balance sheet. By leading with active users, stablecoin volume, and a P&L figure rather than throughput or consensus innovations, VanEck is signalling the metric set it expects advisors to underwrite crypto ETFs on going forward — and BNB is the test case.

The prospectus also contemplates staking once regulatory and operational conditions allow, which would add a yield component to VBNB if approved. With the spot BTC and ETH ETFs now mature and a growing queue of altcoin products awaiting decisions, VBNB is the first major US spot ETF to lead with a revenue-chain thesis rather than a technical-differentiation one.