3 Reasons Active Management Matters In Crypto

Summary Active management helps investors navigate crypto’s boom-and-bust cycles by adjusting exposure as conditions ￰0￱ strategies can capture growth dynamics across miners, fintechs, and infrastructure—not just tokens. Research-driven oversight aims to screen out weak players and seeks to avoid costly ￰1￱ published on September 18, 2025 With shifting cycles, emerging opportunities, and rapid innovation, crypto is a market where adaptability ￰2￱ management provides the flexibility to harness upside potential while avoiding the pitfalls that passive strategies must ￰3￱ Crypto is one of the fastest-moving areas of global ￰4￱ sectors can rise or fall within months, and the winners of one cycle often fade into obscurity by the ￰5￱ investors, this raises an important question: is simply buying and holding enough, or does crypto demand a more active approach?

Here are three reasons why active management can make a meaningful difference in digital ￰6￱ Cycle Challenge * Crypto markets are cyclical, often moving in four-year waves tied to Bitcoin’s halving ￰7￱ bull runs, digital asset prices and related equities can soar, while bear markets bring steep ￰8￱ ( BTC-USD ) has experienced peak-to-trough drawdowns of 70% or more in past cycles, pulling down miners, exchanges, and related equities with it.). 60/40 Portfolio is 60% S&P 500 TR and 40% Bloomberg ￰9￱ Bond ￰10￱ data refers to Bloomberg Bitcoin ￰11￱ see important disclosures and index definitions at the end of this ￰12￱ performance and references to Bitcoin market cycles are based on historical data, neither of which guarantee future ￰13￱ chart makes clear that timing and adaptability matter: historically, while the volatility is extreme, so have been the ￰14￱ with those steep declines, Bitcoin’s historical long-term performance remains among the strongest of any asset ￰15￱ key question for investors is whether active management can help keep the upside while dialing down the pain of the ￰16￱ active approach allows investors to adjust exposure as these cycles unfold rather than simply riding them up and ￰17￱ could mean leaning into higher-growth opportunities when conditions are favorable and becoming more cautious when signs of stress ￰18￱ flexibility to make those shifts is one of the clearest advantages of active management in ￰19￱ Just Tokens The onchain economy is broader than just ￰20￱ includes miners powering both Bitcoin and AI data centers, fintech firms enabling digital payments, exchanges providing liquidity, and even energy infrastructure companies that keep this digital ecosystem ￰21￱ are businesses with revenues, cash flows, and real customers—not just speculative ￰22￱ way to see this trend: companies are increasingly talking about blockchain in their regulatory ￰23￱ of terms related to digital assets in SEC filings climbed this past year, hitting their highest point last ￰24￱ steady rise suggests that adoption is moving beyond crypto-native firms and into a much wider range of industries.

Blockchain-related Mentions in SEC Filings), once trading above $200 a share, saw an 89% drawdown in late 2022 before announcing liquidation in March 2023 and filing for bankruptcy in ￰25￱ Bank ( SBNY ), which peaked near $375 in early 2022, was seized by regulators in March 2023 after a deposit run, with shares now worth pennies on OTC ￰26￱ Voyager Digital ( VYGVQ ), a Canadian-listed crypto broker, lost over 99% of its value following exposure to Three Arrows Capital and filed for bankruptcy in July ￰27￱ each case, red flags like concentrated crypto deposits, weak liquidity, or risky lending appeared before the final collapse—warning signs that active managers could have acted on well before passive strategies were forced to ride them ￰28￱ Capital: From Growth to Voluntary Liquidation Signature Bank: Regulatory Seizure Following Crypto Deposit Outflows Voyager Digital: Bankruptcy Following Risky Lending and Crypto Exposures Sources: Vested Finance, The Block, ￰29￱ performance is no guarantee of future ￰30￱ intended as a recommendation to buy or sell any securities referenced herein or as any call to ￰31￱ ability to separate signals from noise is especially valuable in crypto, where the pace of innovation is matched by the frequency of failed ￰32￱ oversight also enables selective use of tools like exchange-traded products or futures, adding tactical exposure during favorable environments and reducing it when conditions deteriorate—an advantage that passive strategies ￰33￱ For investors, we believe the case for active management in crypto is clear: it provides the ability to adapt to cycles, diversify beyond tokens, and filter for ￰34￱ together, these advantages can help navigate one of the most dynamic corners of today’s ￰35￱ those looking for a practical way to access this approach, VanEck’s Onchain Economy ETF ( NODE ) is one option designed to bring active management into the digital asset ￰36￱ Disclosures * References to Bitcoin market cycles are based on historical data which does not guarantee future ￰37￱ is not an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation to buy or sell any of the securities, financial instruments or digital assets mentioned ￰38￱ information presented does not involve the rendering of personalized investment, financial, legal, tax advice, or any call to ￰39￱ statements contained herein may constitute projections, forecasts and other forward-looking statements, which do not reflect actual results, are for illustrative purposes only, are valid as of the date of this communication, and are subject to change without ￰40￱ future performance of any assets or industries mentioned are ￰41￱ provided by third party sources are believed to be reliable and have not been independently verified for accuracy or completeness and cannot be ￰42￱ does not guarantee the accuracy of third party ￰43￱ information herein represents the opinion of the author(s), but not necessarily those of VanEck or its other ￰44￱ Fund may invest nearly all of its net assets in either Digital Transformation Companies and/or Digital Asset ￰45￱ Fund does not invest in digital assets or commodities ￰46￱ Definitions: S&P 500 Total Return Index (S&P 500 TR) is an index that tracks the performance of the 500 largest publicly traded ￰47￱ and includes both price appreciation and reinvested dividends, providing a comprehensive measure of U.

S. large-cap equity ￰48￱ ￰49￱ Bond Index is a broad-based benchmark that tracks the performance of the U. S. investment-grade bond market, including Treasuries, mortgage-backed securities, and corporate ￰50￱ Bitcoin Index is an index that measures the performance of Bitcoin based on reliable pricing sources and is designed to serve as a benchmark for institutional products referencing Bitcoin’s spot market ￰51￱ investment in the Fund involves a substantial degree of risk and is not suitable for all ￰52￱ in the Fund should be willing to accept a high degree of volatility in the price of the Fund’s Shares and the possibility of significant ￰53￱ investment in the Fund is not a deposit with a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.

Therefore, you should consider carefully various risks before investing in the Fund, each of which could significantly and adversely affect the value of an investment in the ￰54￱ investment in the Fund may be subject to risks which include, among others, risks related to investing in digital transformation companies, digital asset instruments, commodities and commodity-linked instruments, subsidiary investment, commodity regulatory (with respect to investments in the subsidiary), tax (with respect to investments in the subsidiary), gap, liquidity, derivatives, new fund, regulatory, non-diversified, small- and medium-capitalization companies, foreign securities, emerging market issuers, market, operational, active management, authorized participant concentration, no guarantee of active trading market, trading issues, fund shares trading, premium/discount risk and liquidity of fund shares, industry concentration, cash transactions, underlying investment vehicle, and affiliated investment vehicle risks, all of which may adversely affect the ￰55￱ market issuers and foreign securities may be subject to securities markets, political and economic, investment and repatriation restrictions, different rules and regulations, less publicly available financial information, foreign currency and exchange rates, operational and settlement, and corporate and securities laws risks.

Small- and medium-capitalization companies may be subject to elevated ￰56￱ asset instruments may be subject to risks associated with investing in digital asset exchange-traded products (“ETPs”), which include the historical extreme volatility of the digital asset and cryptocurrency market, as well as less regulation and thus fewer investor protections, as these ETPs are not investment companies registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (“1940 Act”) or commodity pools for the purposes of the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”). The technology relating to digital assets, including blockchain, is new and developing and the risks associated with digital assets may not fully emerge until the technology is widely ￰57￱ asset technologies are used by companies to optimize their business practices, whether by using the technology within their business or operating business lines involved in the operation of the ￰58￱ cryptographic keys necessary to transact a digital asset may be subject to theft, loss, or destruction, which could adversely affect a company’s business or operations if it were dependent on the digital ￰59￱ may be risks posed by the lack of regulation for digital assets and any future regulatory developments could affect the viability and expansion of the use of digital ￰60￱ and commodity-linked instruments may be subject to further risks, including tax and futures contracts ￰61￱ risk may be adversely affected by “negative roll yields” in “contango” ￰62￱ Fund will “roll” out of one futures contract as the expiration date approaches and into another futures contract with a later expiration ￰63￱ “rolling” feature creates the potential for a significant negative effect on the Fund’s performance that is independent of the performance of the spot prices of the underlying ￰64￱ “spot price” of a commodity is the price of that commodity for immediate delivery, as opposed to a futures price, which represents the price for delivery on a specified date in the ￰65￱ Fund would be expected to experience negative roll yield if the futures prices tend to be greater than the spot price.

A market where futures prices are generally greater than spot prices is referred to as a “contango” market. Therefore, if the futures market for a given commodity is in contango, then the value of a futures contract on that commodity would tend to decline over time (assuming the spot price remains unchanged), because the higher futures price would fall as it converges to the lower spot price by ￰66￱ period of contango may cause significant and sustained losses. Additionally, because of the frequency with which the Fund may roll futures contracts, the impact of contango on Fund performance may be greater than it would have been if the Fund rolled futures contracts less ￰67￱ involves substantial risk and high volatility, including possible loss of ￰68￱ investor should consider the investment objective, risks, charges and expenses of the Fund carefully before ￰69￱ obtain a prospectus and summary prospectus, which contains this and other information, call 800.826.2333 or visit ￰70￱ read the prospectus and summary prospectus carefully before investing. © Van Eck Securities Corporation, Distributor, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Van Eck Associates ￰71￱ Post