Dozens of investment firms have filed with the Security and Exchanges Commission (SEC) to launch a Bitcoin spot ETF. If approved, this would be the first US ETF to offer exposure to Bitcoin (BTC) on the spot market.
VanEck is one of these investment firms with $76.4 billion in assets under management (AUM) as of September 2023. Interestingly, the asset manager has pledged to donate 5% of its profits with the spot ETF to the open source development of Bitcoin.
The pledge announcement was made on January 5, along with an effective donation of $10,000.
“We at VanEck are not Bitcoin tourists. We're in it for the long haul. That's why we initially donated $10,000 and signed a pledge to donate 5% of our Bitcoin ETF profits (if approved) to support Bitcoin Core developers @bitcoinbrink for at least 10 years. Their tireless commitment to decentralization and innovation is the cornerstone of the Bitcoin ecosystem and we are here to support it – more details to come.”
– VanEck
VanEck announcement. Source: X (formerly Twitter)
VanEck supports Bitcoin Core developers at Brink with the spot ETF
As announced, VanEck will use Brink (@bitcoinbrink, on X) as a donation venue to support Bitcoin Core software.
Notably, Brink was founded by former Blockstream product manager Mike Schmidt to fund, train, and mentor Bitcoin developers. The institution consists of Dave Harding, Christian Decker and Gloria Zhao, who form the Grant Committee and currently sponsor seven core developers.
Still, some influential figures in the cryptocurrency community expressed concerns following the announcement. For example, Joel Valenzuela and Toby Cunningham directly commented on VanEck's original post, implying malicious intent.
“There is NO free cheese in a mousetrap. Paying developers to influence the direction of Bitcoin. Nice try, Van Eck. I've been in this space longer than you've ever heard of Bitcoin. You’re not fooling me.”
–Toby Cunningham
Comments on VanEck's announcement post. Source: X (formerly Twitter)
However, it is worth noting that VanEck has made a similar commitment related to Ethereum, as CoinDesk reported in October 2023. On this occasion, the asset manager pledged to use 10% of its Ethereum futures ETF profits to support ETH developers.
All in all, VanEck signals its intention to support cryptocurrencies offered as speculative products. These pledges demonstrate commitment to the cryptocurrency market and open source development, which could increase contributions that are somehow influenced by the asset manager's ideals.
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