VanEck Launches AI + Crypto Fund

The new $30 million VanEck Ventures fund will target 25 to 35 early-stage startups with investments ranging from $500,000 to $1 million each. This initiative marks a formal entry into venture capital for the asset management firm, which has a history of making corporate investments in early-stage companies. The fund has already secured four investments, though the specific companies have not yet been named. Leading the fund are Wyatt Lonergan and Juan Lopez, who previously headed Circle Ventures. During their tenure at Circle, they oversaw the investment of more than $50 million into over 100 early-stage companies in the crypto and fintech space. Lonergan, who launched Circle Ventures in 2021, departed in May 2024, followed by Lopez in July 2024. This move by VanEck aligns with a significant uptick in institutional investment at the intersection of AI and cryptocurrency. In the first eight months of 2025, AI-centric crypto projects have raised $516 million, already exceeding the total for all of 2024. Some analysts project that the convergence of these "megatrends" could add as much as $20 trillion to the global GDP by 2030. The investment thesis for the new fund centers on what its leaders call three "inflection points": stablecoins emerging as an open-source banking layer, the commoditization of blockspace, and breakthroughs in artificial intelligence. The fund will focus on companies building at the application layer, with core themes including tokenized assets, internet-native financial marketplaces, and next-generation payment systems built on stablecoins. VanEck has a track record of entering emerging markets early. The firm pioneered gold investing in 1968 and was the first to file for a Bitcoin-linked ETF in the United States in 2017. This history of identifying and investing in transformative technologies provides context for their strategic expansion into AI and crypto venture capital.