VanEck Lists Wealth Builder ETF With Bitcoin Exposure

VanEck has launched an actively managed exchange-traded fund that combines stocks, bonds, gold and a targeted slice of bitcoin exposure in a single product. The fund invests in both VanEck and third-party ETFs and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker WBMO, Cointelegraph reported.

The fund targets a 2% bitcoin allocation with a permitted range of 1% to 5%, according to VanEck's website. Bitcoin exposure comes through a spot bitcoin exchange-traded product rather than direct holdings of the cryptocurrency. A wholly owned Cayman Islands subsidiary holds certain investments and gains digital-asset exposure through ETPs; that subsidiary is generally capped at 25% of total assets at each quarter-end, a ceiling that covers several asset categories rather than digital assets alone, and WBMO itself owns no bitcoin outright, Bitcoin Magazine noted. The prospectus sets no specific bitcoin target beyond the stated range.

WBMO packages the firm's Wealth Builder model portfolios, which advisers had used through third-party wealth-management platforms, into a fund any brokerage account can buy. VanEck selects the holdings, sets the weights and rebalances the portfolio. Investors get indirect bitcoin exposure without a wallet, seed phrase or exchange account, and they cannot control the bitcoin position directly. The fund holds global stocks, bonds, gold and other real assets alongside the digital-asset slice. VanEck describes the product as a way to "gain exposure to a broad mix of investments across stocks, bonds, gold and bitcoin with a single ETF purchase," Bitcoin Magazine reported.

The gross expense ratio is 0.33%. A 0.07% fee waiver brings the net ratio to 0.26%. The underlying bitcoin products charge their own fees on top of that. VanEck warned in its announcement that digital-asset ETPs can be extremely volatile and that some are not registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, which means they lack certain investor protections. The allocation also limits swings: if bitcoin rises sharply, WBMO captures only part of the gain, and if it falls, bonds and gold cushion some of the loss without preventing it, the report said.

Cointelegraph quoted David Schassler, VanEck's head of multi-asset solutions, saying the traditional 60/40 portfolio was built for a different mix of market conditions and that adding real assets alongside stocks and bonds could help investors through a wider range of economic environments.

The launch follows VanEck's March partnership with retirement platform Basic Capital, which made a selection of the asset manager's digital-asset ETPs available through US employer-sponsored 401(k) plans. VanEck managed about $244.1 billion in assets as of Sept. 30, according to the company. The firm's other crypto-linked fund, NODE, holds blockchain companies rather than WBMO's diversified mix. NODE raised its bitcoin ETP exposure from about 7% at the end of June to 16.8% at the end of September, showing how VanEck is using crypto products across its lineup.

VanEck's digital-asset expansion comes as the asset manager navigates other changes in its crypto lineup. Earlier this month the firm said in an SEC filing it would not proceed with a planned Lido staked ether ETF, ending the first American attempt at a stETH fund, as Cointelegraph reported at the time.

The Wealth Builder launch marks a different route into digital assets: not a single-asset crypto fund, but a diversified product where bitcoin is one sleeve among several. Advisers who used the model portfolios through third-party platforms can now point clients to a listed ticker instead of assembling the pieces separately. VanEck keeps discretion over weights and rebalancing, so the bitcoin slice moves within the stated 1% to 5% band rather than tracking a fixed index weight. The fund does not give investors control over the underlying ETP positions or the ability to redeem bitcoin directly.