Global investment firm VanEck has declared that it will allocate 10% of all profits generated from its Ether futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) to Ethereum’s core developers for a period of ten years. The announcement was made on 29 September 2023 via social media platform X (previously known as Twitter).
The recipient of this charitable act will be Protocol Guild, which is essentially a collective or organization dedicated to the development, governance, and overall improvement of the Ethereum protocol. Comprising developers, researchers, and other key stakeholders, the guild serves as a focal point for collaborative efforts aimed at enhancing the Ethereum network. Its role is multifaceted, encompassing everything from proposing and reviewing upgrades to the protocol, to ensuring its security and scalability.
The guild often acts as a mediator between different parties within the Ethereum ecosystem, such as developers, miners, and users, to reach a consensus on various issues. This is particularly important given the decentralized nature of Ethereum, where changes to the protocol require broad agreement. By facilitating discussions, providing technical expertise, and even offering governance models, the Protocol Guild contributes to the democratic and transparent ethos of the network.
VanEck expressed that it is equitable for investment managers to share a portion of their earnings with the community that is responsible for developing the cryptocurrency protocol. The firm encouraged other asset managers and ETF issuers to consider a similar approach, stating that traditional finance (TradFi) should reciprocate the benefits it gains from the work of Ethereum’s core contributors.
This initiative places VanEck alongside other organizations and communities within the crypto space that have been supporting the Ethereum network. Notable names include Lido Finance, Uniswap, Arbitrum, Optimism, ENS Domains, MolochDAO, and Nouns DAO.
According to a report by Cointelegraph, publicly available data, which tracks the donations made to Protocol Guild’s mainnet, reveals that 4,846 contributions have already amassed over $12 million. These funds are subsequently allocated among the Guild’s members based on a weighted system that takes into account the duration of their contributions to the project.
In terms of technological advancements, the core developers of the Ethereum network are said to be focusing on the Ethereum Improvement Proposal EIP-4844, also known as Proto-Danksharding. This forthcoming upgrade aims to introduce a novel transaction type to the Ethereum network, with the goal of lowering transaction costs for layer-2 solutions.
On 28 September 2023, VanEck announced that it is getting ready to launch an Ethereum Futures ETF (EFUT), which is “an actively managed ETF designed to seek capital appreciation by investing in Ether (ETH) futures contracts.”
The fund plans to allocate its resources to standardized cash-settled ETH futures contracts that are listed on exchanges approved by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Currently, the fund aims to invest solely in ETH futures available on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. EFUT is set to be traded on the Chicago Board Options Exchange and will be under the direct supervision of Greg Krenzer, who leads the active trading division at VanEck. Having joined the company in 1994, Mr. Krenzer brings over 20 years of expertise in trading various asset types, including futures.
According to Nate Geraci, President of Kansas-based registered investment advisor The ETF Store, VanEck’s Ethereum Futures ETF is being launched on 2 October 2023:
Eric Balchunas, Senior ETF Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, says nine Ethereum futures ETFs are set to launch on 2 October 2023:
Featured Image via Midjourney
