VanEck Lets Its BNB Staketh Sit So the Yield Can Roll Up 🧀

VanEck has amended its spot BNB exchange-traded fund, VBNB, to add staking as a secondary investment objective, according to a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The change positions the $BNB-tracking product, which launched in May 2026 on Nasdaq, to generate on-chain yield for the first time since its debut. Under the revised terms, the sponsor intends to stake all of the trust's BNB except a reserve held to meet redemptions.

The staking layer is operated through a newly disclosed custody arrangement. VanEck Digital Assets announced a second custody agreement with BitGo Bank & Trust, naming Figment as the validator responsible for running the staking infrastructure. The trust's BNB remain custodied with Anchorage Digital Bank and BitGo, and the fund continues to charge a 0.39% sponsor fee. Shares of VBNB are created and redeemed in cash or in kind, and any tokens committed to staking on BNB Smart Chain remain subject to a seven-day unbonding period, during which they earn no rewards and cannot be transferred.

The amendment lands as BNB trades near $775, up more than 15% over the past month, based on the figures cited in the filing's market context. VanEck's BNB ETF was previously the first and only spot BNB fund available to U.S. investors, and the addition of staking brings its structure closer to that of spot Ethereum ETFs, which similarly generate yield through staked holdings. The sponsor has not disclosed an estimated staking yield, and the filing does not specify when staking rewards, if any, would be passed through to shareholders.

VBNB remains listed on Nasdaq under the same ticker, and VanEck has not indicated any change to the fund's expense ratio or custody providers beyond the addition of Figment as validator. The trust continues to hold BNB as its sole digital asset, with redemptions settled according to the existing in-kind and cash mechanisms described in its prospectus.