Company: HODL
Filing Date: 2025-03-26
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0000930413-25-000995
Chunk: 245

Company: VanEck Bitcoin ETF
Filing Date: 2025-03-26
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 245
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 intent to develop and

63

consider the adoption of federal legislation designed
to address the perceived need for regulation of and concerns surrounding the crypto industry. However, the extent and content
of any forthcoming laws and regulations are not yet ascertainable with certainty, and it may not be ascertainable in the near
future. A divided Congress makes any prediction difficult. We cannot predict how these and other related events will affect us
or the crypto asset business.

In August 2021, the chair of the SEC stated that he
believed investors using digital asset trading platforms are not adequately protected, and that activities on the platforms can
implicate the securities laws, commodities laws and banking laws, raising a number of issues related to protecting investors and
consumers, guarding against illicit activity, and ensuring financial stability. The chair expressed a need for the SEC to have
additional authorities to prevent transactions, products, and platforms from “falling between regulatory cracks,”
as well as for more resources to protect investors in “this growing and volatile sector.” The chair called for federal
legislation centering on digital asset trading, lending, and decentralized finance platforms, seeking “additional plenary
authority” to write rules for digital asset trading and lending. It is not possible to predict whether Congress will grant
additional authorities to the SEC or other regulators, what the nature of such additional authorities might be, how they might
impact the ability of digital asset markets to function or how any new regulations that may flow from such authorities might impact
the value of digital assets generally and bitcoin held by the Trust specifically. The consequences of increased federal regulation
of digital assets and digital asset activities could have a material adverse effect on the Trust and the Shares.

FinCEN requires any administrator or exchanger of convertible
digital assets to register with FinCEN as a money transmitter and comply with the anti-money laundering regulations applicable
to money transmitters. Entities which fail to comply with such regulations are subject to fines, may be required to cease operations,
and could have potential criminal liability. For example, in 2015, FinCEN assessed a $700,000 fine against a sponsor of a digital
asset for violating several requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act by acting as an MSB and selling the digital asset without registering
with FinCEN, and by failing to implement and maintain an adequate anti-money laundering program. In 2017, FinCEN assessed a $110
million fine against BTC-e, a now defunct digital asset exchange, for