General Partner Juan C. Lopez sees crypto-native neobanks and compliance layers as key to Web3’s next growth stage.
Welcome to the US Crypto News Morning Briefing — your essential rundown of the most important developments in crypto for the day ahead.
Grab a coffee because the firms shaping crypto’s future are not just building products, but also trying to reshape how capital flows.
VanEck, a Wall Street player known for financial “firsts,” is pushing that legacy into Web3. The firsts include pioneering US gold funds and launching one of the earliest spot Bitcoin ETFs.
“Financial instruments have always been a kind of tokenization. From seashells to traveler’s checks, from relational databases to today’s on-chain assets. You could even joke that VanEck’s first gold mutual funds were the original ‘tokenized gold,'” Juan C. Lopez, General Partner at VanEck Ventures, told BeInCrypto.
That same instinct drives the firm’s venture bets. Lopez said VanEck goes beyond writing checks and brings the full weight of the firm.
This extends from regulatory proximity to product experiments to founders building the next phase of crypto infrastructure. Asked about key investment priorities, Lopez highlighted stablecoins.
“We care deeply about three questions: How do we accelerate stablecoin ubiquity? What will users want to do with them once highly distributed? And what net new assets can we construct now that we have sophisticated market infrastructure?” Lopez added.
However, VanEck is not limiting itself to the hottest narrative, acknowledging that decentralized finance (DeFi) is having a renaissance.
The VanEck executive also noted that success will depend on new approaches to identity and programmable compliance layered on public blockchains.
That compliance-first angle explains VanEck Ventures’ recent co-lead of Legion’s $5 million seed round alongside Brevan Howard.
Legion aims to reinvent token fundraising by making early-stage access more open while keeping it legally sound.
“Fighting the current market structure in private markets is probably one of the most challenging efforts we have ever signed up for,” Lopez admitted.
However, he believes Legion’s model can help solve the lemon market for tokens and usher in a new era of fully compliant, globally scalable ICOs.
Notably, the model combines instant company financing with a compliant path for retail to participate.
VanEck has also invested in firms like Dinari and Manifest, focused on tokenizing equities and real estate.
Lopez sees wallet-based systems as the gateway to a 24/7, borderless market.
“Blockchains are ‘invest in anything, from anywhere’ infrastructure,” he said.
With stablecoins as liquidity endpoints, he expects new categories of assets to emerge and distribution friction to collapse.
Lopez dismissed the idea that Wall Street’s tokenization push is simply an ETF sequel.
“It’s about the refactoring of asset issuance and distribution to allow for faster, cheaper access and limitless opportunities in product structuring,” he explained.
The VanEck executive also pointed to prediction-market protocols, compliance layers for public blockchains, and crypto-native neobanks as some of the most exciting frontiers.
“One of the big winners in consumer fintech over the next 5-10 years will be the neobank that taps into the best protocols, builds trust and transparency on day one, and positions users as owners via tokens,” he concluded.
Here’s a summary of more US crypto news to follow today:
