VanEck, one of the issuers of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the U.S., has launched a new initiative to support early-stage cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence projects. On October 9, the company announced the creation of VanEck Ventures, a $30 million fund dedicated to investing in fintech, crypto, and AI startups at the pre-seed and seed stages. Among VanEck Ventures’ core investment themes are tokenized assets, internet-native financial marketplaces, and payments using stablecoins and tokenized capital markets. The new fund is led by Wyatt Lonergan and Juan Lopez, both previously with Circle Ventures, the venture arm of Circle Internet Financial,