VanEck has updated its proposed spot BNB exchange-traded fund, ticker VBNB, to include staking as a secondary investment objective. The move widens the fund's stated mandate beyond simple spot price exposure and signals an intent to capture yield from the underlying asset. Alongside the change, the firm appointed Figment in connection with the staking component of the proposal. If the fund is eventually cleared, the structure would place BNB exposure and any staking rewards inside a standard brokerage account, rather than requiring holders to manage wallets, delegation, and validator interactions themselves.

Staking Added as a Secondary Objective

According to reporting from CoinGape, the amendment designates staking as secondary to the fund's primary objective of tracking BNB's spot price. Staking, in a proof-of-stake context, involves locking tokens to support network validation, with participants generally receiving rewards in return. The framing as "secondary" is deliberate: it places staking yield within the fund's scope without elevating it to the fund's defining purpose.

Investors should read the language as a stated intent rather than a guaranteed return mechanic, since the updated filing does not specify yield rates, reward distribution policy, or slashing risk disclosures.

VanEck's BNB ETF proposal sits alongside other BNB ETF filings currently under SEC review, making the staking addition a differentiating structural choice rather than an isolated update. The design follows precedent already established in the US, where spot ether ETFs incorporate staking into their mandates, so staking-enabled wrappers are an existing fund structure rather than an untested. Adding a yield objective at the filing stage locks in that design intent before any regulatory approval and sets expectations for how the product would operate if cleared.

Figment Named as Staking Services Provider

VanEck named Figment as the designated provider for staking services under the updated proposal. Figment is an institutional staking infrastructure firm with validator operations across proof-of-stake networks. In this role, specialist providers typically run validator infrastructure, monitor slashing exposure, and administer reward accounting on the fund's behalf. The appointment signals that VanEck intends to delegate BNB staking to a third-party operator rather than run validator infrastructure internally, which is the standard approach for asset managers entering the staking-enabled ETF space.

The filing does not detail the specific mechanics of how Figment would interface with BNB Chain's validator set, nor does it specify fee-sharing arrangements or how staking rewards would ultimately flow to fund shareholders. Those implementation details would typically appear in a final prospectus, not in an amended S-1 or 19b-4 filing at this stage.

What a Secondary Staking Objective Means for BNB ETF Investors

For DeFi-native investors accustomed to evaluating liquid staking tokens and yield-bearing positions, the distinction between a "primary" and a "secondary" objective in a registered fund matters structurally. A secondary objective creates optionality: the fund can stake assets when conditions are favorable and pause when they are not, without breaching its core mandate. This differs from a protocol like Lido, where staking is the product itself. It also shifts the operational load of staking — key management, validator selection, and reward tracking — from the individual holder to the fund and its service providers.

The open questions center on disclosure and pass-through mechanics. Whether staking rewards reduce the fund's expense ratio, are distributed as income, or are reinvested into BNB holdings has direct implications for tax treatment and net yield to shareholders. Investors should monitor subsequent amendments and any final prospectus language for those details before drawing conclusions about VBNB's yield profile relative to holding BNB directly or via a liquid staking derivative on BNB Chain.

VanEck has previously demonstrated comfort with yield-adjacent structures in digital asset products, and its broader digital asset outlook reflects ongoing engagement with the space beyond simple price exposure. Amendment rounds are routine at this stage of a spot crypto ETF proposal, and once an exchange's 19b-4 filing is published in the Federal Register, statutory review deadlines and public comment windows set the checkpoints for the process. Whether the staking addition strengthens or complicates VBNB's regulatory path remains the key variable to watch as the SEC review continues.