Global asset manager VanEck has announced that it will donate 10% of all profits from its upcoming Ether futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) to Ethereum core developers for a period of ten years. The beneficiary of this donation will be The Protocol Guild, a group of over 150 developers responsible for maintaining Ethereum’s core technology. VanEck believes that it is fair for asset managers to give back to the community that builds the crypto protocol, especially considering that traditional finance (TradFi) stands to benefit from the efforts of Ethereum’s core contributors. VanEck encourages other asset managers and ETF issuers to also consider giving back in the same manner.
VanEck’s decision to donate aligns with the support shown by other crypto-native communities towards the Ethereum network, including Lido Finance, Uniswap, Arbitrum, Optimism, ENS Domains, MolochDAO, and Nouns DAO.
According to a public dashboard that tracks donations sent to the Guild’s mainnet, there have been 4,846 contributions, generating over $12 million in donations. These funds will be distributed among the members of the Guild based on a weighted ratio determined by their contribution periods.
The network core developers are reportedly working on Ethereum Improvement Proposal EIP-4844 (Proto-Danksharding), which aims to reduce transaction fees for layer-2 protocols by introducing a new transaction type to Ethereum.
VanEck recently announced its upcoming Ethereum Strategy ETF (EFUT), which will invest in ether futures contracts. The fund will be actively managed by Greg Krenzer, head of active trading at VanEck, and is expected to be listed on the Chicago Board Options Exchange soon.
Other traditional investment firms, such as Valkyrie and Bitwise, also plan to offer exposure to Ether futures. Meanwhile, Invesco Galaxy, ARK 21Shares, and VanEck are waiting for regulatory approval to launch a spot Ether ETF. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has postponed its decision on approving a spot Ether product until December.
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