State Street has been appointed as the fund administrator and transfer agent of the VanEck Bitcoin Trust, a new bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) that is currently pending approval by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The trust’s investment objective is to reflect the performance of the MVIS CryptoCompare Bitcoin Benchmark Rate less the expenses of the Trust’s operations.
It is proposed to be the first of its kind US listed ETF offering exposure to bitcoin.
Pending approval by the SEC, State Street will continue to work closely with VanEck on all aspects of the launch and provide services including ETF basket operations, custody of the ETF shares, fund accounting, order-taking and transfer agency.
State Street has been engaged in the digital asset space for a number of years including working with Gemini since 2019 on a digital asset pilot, as well as being one of the co-founders in Fnality,an industry consortium developing a regulated wholesale payment system leveraging blockchain technology.
Nadine Chakar, head of State Street Global Markets, says: “We see the implementation of digital assets as one of the most transformational forces affecting our industry over the next 5 years, and we are already very actively engaged with clients and partners in delivering solutions.”
Chakar states: “The work we have underway with VanEck is another example of State Street continuing to deliver on our broader strategy of building out the crypto and digital assets ecosystem, which is focused on creating digital cash; custody and post trade services; trading; and token issuance for these new asset-types.”
Gabor Gurbacs, director of digital assets strategy at VanEck, adds: “VanEck is committed to supporting financial innovation in the digital assets space. We believe that, when the ETF is approved, the Trust will improve both financial and digital asset markets by providing investors with a simple, efficient, and an institutionally-backed vehicle to gain access to the Bitcoin markets.”
Last month, CIBC Mellon was appointed fund administrator of Purpose Investment’s new bitcoin ETF after the Ontario Securities Commission approved the launch of the fund.
The bitcoin ETF will allow investors efficient access to cryptocurrency without the associated risk of self-custody within a digital wallet.
