By Camila Russo
(Bloomberg) --VanEck Associates Corp. is giving its cryptocurrencies initiative another shot.
VanEck’s MV Index Solutions unit is partnering with CryptoCompare, a London-based digital asset data provider, to offer 12 single digital asset indexes, including for bitcoin and ether, and four indexes tracking baskets of five to 100 cryptocurrencies. The firm on Sept. 27 withdrew an application to list a bitcoin derivatives exchange-traded fund after the Securities and Exchange Commission said it wouldn’t review a petition for a fund that intends to invest in instruments that aren’t yet available.
At a time where Wall Street seems split between loving and hating cryptos, the move puts VanEck squarely in the bulls camp, as the firm views benchmark indexes as a necessary step for this nascent sector to grow. New York-based VanEck is the ninth biggest ETF provider.
“We realize that digital assets have gained recognition in the past year and we’re looking at the necessary building blocks for this asset class,” Gabor Gurbacs, director of digital- asset strategy at VanEck, said in an interview. “Block one is a proper way to monitor the market.”
The indexes incorporate trade data from about 50 cryptocurrency exchanges around the world, with prices weighted by volume. The indexes are live and some have historic data going back to 2014, Gurbacs said.
VanEck isn’t giving up on the ETF.
“The logical step once the bitcoin futures market exists is to reevaluate whether it’s suitable to refile the ETF” listing request, Gurbacs said. “We’re hoping to raise further awareness of digital assets as an emerging asset class and hope to create high-level institutional content and materials for investors and anyone interested.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Camila Russo in New York at [email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael P. Regan at [email protected] ;Jeremy Herron at [email protected] Dave Liedtka, Andrew Dunn
