Vaneck Quietly Backpedals On Bnb Etf Staking In Latest Sec Filing

VanEck’s amended BNB ETF filing scraps all staking plans, unlike its Solana product, explicitly distancing itself from BNB staking amid regulatory risk.

Asset manager VanEck backed away from its earlier plans to stake assets in its proposed spot BNB exchange-traded fund, despite offering staking in its recently launched Solana product.

In its updated S-1 filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday, VanEck said “the Trust will not employ its BNB in Staking Activities and accordingly will not earn any form of staking rewards or income of any kind from Staking Activities” at the time of listing. The filing further warns that “there can be no assurance that the Trust will engage in any Staking Activities” in the future, either.

The company acknowledged that avoiding staking could cause the ETF’s performance to lag that of holding BNB (BNB) directly, noting that investors would forgo potential staking rewards.

This follows VanEck filing for a spot BNB exchange-traded fund (ETF) in May. The filing noted at the time that it “may, from time to time, stake a portion of the assets through one or more trusted staking providers.” Earlier this month, VanEck also launched the US’s third Solana (SOL) ETF, offering staking yields.

Related: Solana staking ETFs are ‘missing part of puzzle’: Bitwise CIO

In its updated filing, VanEck distanced itself from any potential staking efforts and stated that it would be implemented through one or more third-party “Staking Services Providers.” Furthermore, the company clearly stated that there was no guarantee that any staking with ETF assets would ever take place, and if they were to engage in such activity, they would first file a prospectus with the SEC.

Still, the filing fails to clearly state the rationale for its cautious approach to BNB staking, but it hints at concerns regarding regulatory troubles. A section of the filing clearly states that a determination by the SEC that BNB is a security may adversely affect the value of the shares and the termination of the trust.

“The test for determining whether a particular digital asset is a ‘security’ is complex and difficult to apply, and the outcome is difficult to predict,” VanEck said. The fund manager “acknowledges that BNB may currently be a security, based on the facts as they exist today, or may in the future be found by the SEC or a federal court to be a security.”

In such a case, VanEck may dissolve the ETF — either of its own volition by au

Source: CoinTelegraph