VanEck’s actively managed Onchain Economy ETF, trading under the ticker NODE, is gaining attention among investors looking for exposure to the growth of digital assets without directly owning cryptocurrencies.
The ETF, which launched in May 2025, focuses on companies tied to blockchain infrastructure, bitcoin mining, digital payments, AI data centers, semiconductors and energy systems that support the broader digital asset ecosystem. According to VanEck, the fund, prior to inception, considered allocating up to 25% of assets to crypto-linked exchange-traded products.
In an interview with AInvest’s “Capital & Power,” Matthew Sigel, VanEck's Head of Digital Assets Research said NODE’s approach differs from traditional crypto funds because it focuses on companies benefiting from the adoption of blockchain technology rather than solely tracking bitcoin prices.
“Thankfully we're up seventy-five percent and Bitcoin is down almost thirty percent,” Sigel told AInvest. “So we've done that by taking a very expansive approach to the investment opportunity, not just focusing on the pure play equities, but any company that has the [ability to] make money or save money from the adoption of Bitcoin, blockchain, digital assets.”
VanEck described NODE as an ETF designed to provide “active exposure to companies at the forefront of digital asset adoption.” The firm has said the portfolio adjusts dynamically based on bitcoin-cycle indicators and market conditions.
The strategy comes as institutional investors increasingly seek alternatives to direct crypto ownership. According to CoinDesk, NODE was structured to hold between 30 and 60 stocks tied to the digital asset economy, including crypto exchanges, miners, data centers, semiconductor firms and energy infrastructure companies.
Among NODE's top 9 holdings are VanEck's Bitcoin ETF HODL, energy infrastructure company TeraWulf Inc., former Bitcoin miner Cipher Digital Inc., blockchain fintech Figure Technology Solutions, and others you can find here.
Sigel explained why active management is particularly important in crypto-related investing because the sector remains highly cyclical and volatile. “We like the active management here because there's a lot of scams, frankly, in the space that get big and work their way into indices,” Sigel said in the AInvest interview.
The ETF’s portfolio has increasingly leaned into the overlap between artificial intelligence infrastructure and digital assets. Sigel said bitcoin miners have become attractive because many already control large amounts of electricity and data-center infrastructure that can also support AI computing workloads.
“One of the reasons we got so much conviction around Bitcoin ... is because it has this clear connection to the real world via its relatively heavy intensity of electricity usage,” Sigel told AInvest.
VanEck’s own April 2026 monthly commentary said AI compute and energy-transition holdings such as Hut 8, TeraWulf and Applied Digital were among the ETF’s strongest contributors. The fund returned 24.8% during April, outperforming bitcoin during the same period, according to the firm.
For investors considering NODE, the appeal may be its diversified exposure to the broader “onchain economy” rather than reliance on a single cryptocurrency. Still, VanEck and Sigel both caution that the strategy remains volatile and speculative. The fund’s own materials describe NODE as a “high-volatility, high-risk” thematic growth investment.