VanEck has launched a new actively managed exchange-traded fund that combines global stocks, bonds, gold and other real assets with indirect exposure to bitcoin. The Wealth Builder ETF, trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker WBMO, is designed to give investors access to a diversified portfolio through a single brokerage-account purchase.
The product brings VanEck’s Wealth Builder model portfolios into an ETF format. Financial advisers have previously used those portfolios through third-party platforms, but the new fund is available to anyone whose brokerage account allows ETF trading. VanEck, which oversees about $244 billion in assets, determines the fund’s holdings, sets their weights and rebalances the portfolio.
According to Bitcoin Magazine, VanEck describes WBMO as a way to obtain exposure to a broad collection of investments without buying each asset separately. The fund’s structure places bitcoin alongside more traditional portfolio components rather than making cryptocurrency the sole focus of the product.
How WBMO handles bitcoin exposure
WBMO does not hold bitcoin directly. Instead, a wholly owned subsidiary based in the Cayman Islands holds certain investments and obtains digital-asset exposure through exchange-traded products, or ETPs. These are investment vehicles that hold bitcoin or are designed to track its price.
That arrangement means investors can gain exposure to the bitcoin portion of the portfolio without managing a cryptocurrency wallet, safeguarding a seed phrase or opening an account with a crypto exchange. At the same time, shareholders cannot decide directly how much bitcoin the fund holds or control that position themselves.
The subsidiary is generally limited to 25% of WBMO’s total assets at the end of each quarter. However, that ceiling applies across several asset categories, and the fund’s prospectus does not establish a separate target allocation specifically for bitcoin. The actual bitcoin exposure can therefore form only part of the subsidiary’s permitted allocation.
The diversified design also affects how the fund responds to market moves. A sharp rise in bitcoin would contribute only a portion of its gains to WBMO, rather than determining the fund’s entire performance. Conversely, a bitcoin decline could be partly offset by the fund’s holdings of bonds and gold, although those assets cannot eliminate losses.
Fees and investor risks
WBMO has a gross expense ratio of 0.33%. VanEck is waiving 0.07 percentage points, bringing the net expense ratio to 0.26%. The digital-asset ETPs held through the subsidiary charge fees of their own, meaning the fund’s net ratio does not represent every cost associated with its bitcoin exposure.
VanEck also warned that digital-asset ETPs can be extremely volatile. Some of those products are not registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and therefore do not provide certain investor protections associated with registered funds.
The launch is part of VanEck’s broader use of crypto-related investments in portfolio products. The firm’s NODE fund increased its exposure to bitcoin ETPs from approximately 7% at the end of June to 16.8% at the end of September. NODE invests in blockchain companies rather than using WBMO’s combination of stocks, bonds, gold and other real assets, so the two funds have different mandates.
VanEck has also discussed longer-term risks facing the bitcoin network. Matthew Sigel, the firm’s head of digital assets research, previously said the Bitcoin community had recognized the potential threat quantum computing poses to Bitcoin’s cryptography. He said technological routes toward quantum resistance exist, but that Bitcoin’s decentralized governance process can make upgrades slower and less straightforward than in a system with a single executive decision-maker.
The source material also noted that companies including Coinbase and Blockstream had begun working on quantum-resistant security measures. A Bitcoin Security Consortium, involving BlackRock, Fidelity Digital Assets and Block, had been formed to support open-source security initiatives, including proposals such as BIP-360.
Current market picture
Moneyiar market data, recorded on October 25, 2026, at about 22:39 Tehran time, showed bitcoin at $80,430.5068, down 0.08% over 24 hours and 1.32% over seven days.
Other listed digital assets showed mixed performance:
- FUNToken was priced at $0.0089182414, up 1.62% in 24 hours and 0.08% over seven days.
- ONEchain stood at $0.1019913497, down 0.44% in 24 hours but up 1.74% over seven days.
- Altlayer was priced at $0.0063752726, down 6% in 24 hours and 27.23% over seven days.
WBMO’s launch gives investors a packaged exposure to bitcoin and other asset classes, but its structure means bitcoin remains one component of a broader actively managed portfolio rather than a directly owned holding.
