VanEck Introduces Wealth Builder ETF Featuring Bitcoin

VanEck has rolled out the Wealth Builder ETF, which trades on the NYSE under the ticker symbol WBMO. This actively managed fund consolidates the firm’s Wealth Builder model portfolios—previously utilized by advisers through third-party platforms—into a single investment accessible to anyone with a brokerage account.

Managing roughly $244 billion in assets, VanEck handles the portfolio’s holdings selection, weight determinations, and regular rebalancing.

According to VanEck, the product offers a method to “gain exposure to a broad mix of investments across stocks, bonds, gold, and bitcoin with a single ETF purchase.” The portfolio includes global stocks, bonds, gold, and other real assets.

WBMO features indirect bitcoin exposure and does not hold actual bitcoin directly. Instead, a wholly owned Cayman Islands subsidiary holds specific investments, gaining exposure to digital assets via exchange-traded products—funds that either hold or track bitcoin.

At each quarter-end, the subsidiary’s assets are generally limited to a maximum of 25% of total assets, a cap that applies across multiple asset categories. The prospectus does not specify a distinct target for bitcoin. Investors do not require a wallet, seed phrase, or exchange account to own the bitcoin portion, nor can they directly manage the bitcoin allocation.

Details of VanEck’s fund

The fund has a gross expense ratio of 0.33%, which drops to a net ratio of 0.26% after a 0.07% fee waiver. Fees for the underlying bitcoin products are separate.

The allocation structure also helps temper market volatility. Should bitcoin experience a sharp increase, WBMO will capture only a fraction of those gains. Conversely, if bitcoin drops, gold and bonds are expected to help buffer some—though not all—of the downside.

In its announcement, VanEck cautioned that digital asset ETPs can experience significant volatility. The firm also noted that some ETPs are not registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, meaning they do not carry certain standard investor protections.

Meanwhile, VanEck’s alternative crypto-linked fund, NODE, increased its bitcoin ETP allocation from roughly 7% at the end of June to 16.8% by the end of September. Unlike WBMO’s diversified asset mix, NODE invests in blockchain companies, reflecting how VanEck integrates crypto assets across its investment offerings.

Earlier in the autumn, Matthew Sigel, VanEck’s Head of Digital Assets Research, pointed out that the Bitcoin community is well aware of the potential risks quantum computing presents to Bitcoin cryptography.

“It’s a risk,” Sigel stated at the time. “But the community has recognized the scope of the issue. There’s a lot of talent that’s now come together with a framework of how to upgrade the system…The upgrades don’t happen as fast because there’s no CEO who can tell the devs, ‘hey, do it now.’ There’s a governance process — it takes more time, it’s a little bit messier, but there are technological paths for quantum resistance, and I think you’ll see more of that over the next couple of years.”

Major industry players such as Coinbase and Blockstream have already begun working on quantum-resistant security protocols to address upcoming vulnerabilities.

Additionally, a Bitcoin Security Consortium—comprising BlackRock, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Block—was established to finance open-source security projects, which includes advancing proposals like BIP-360.

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