SEC Filing Document

Company: VanEck BNB ETF
Ticker: 
CIK: 2066824
Filing Type: S-1/A
Document Type: S-1/A
Date Filed: 2026-05-15
Accession Number: 0001628280-26-035722
Exchange: 
SIC Code: 6221
SIC Description: Commodity Contracts Brokers & Dealers
URL: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2066824/000162828026035722/vaneckbnbs-1a5.htm

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tax advisers with respect to all U.S. federal, state, local and foreign tax law considerations potentially applicable to their investment in Shares. For purposes of this discussion, a “U.S. Shareholder” is a Shareholder that is: •an individual who is treated as a citizen or resident of the United States for U.S. federal income tax purposes; •a corporation (or entity treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes) created or organized in or under the laws of the United States, any state thereof or the District of Columbia; •an estate, the income of which is includible in gross income for U.S. federal income tax purposes regardless of its source; or •a trust, if a court within the United States is able to exercise primary supervision over the administration of the trust and one or more United States persons have the authority to control all substantial decisions of the trust.

If a partnership or other entity or arrangement treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes holds Shares, the tax treatment of a partner generally depends upon the status of the partner and the activities of the partnership. If you are a partner of a partnership holding Shares, the discussion below may not be applicable and we urge you to consult your own tax adviser for the U.S. federal income tax implications of the purchase, ownership and disposition of such Shares.

Taxation of the Trust

The Sponsor and the Trustee will treat the Trust as a “grantor trust” for U.S. federal income tax purposes. As a grantor trust, the Trust can undertake only certain types of activities. For example, generally, the Trust cannot vary its investment portfolio to take advantage of market fluctuations. In the opinion of Sidley Austin LLP, although not free from doubt due to the lack of directly governing authority, the Trust should be classified as a “grantor trust” for U.S. federal income tax purposes. The Trust intends to operate so that it will qualify to be treated as a grantor trust for U.S. federal income tax purposes. The opinion of Sidley Austin LLP is based on various assumptions relating to the Trust’s organization, operation, assets and activities, including that all other factual information set forth in the relevant documents and records are true and correct and that the Trust will at all times operate in accordance with the method of operation described in the Trust’s organizational documents and this Prospectus. Sidley Austin LLP will have no obligation to update its opinion subsequent to the date of such opinion. Sidley Austin LLP will have no obligation to advise the Sponsor, the Trustee or the Trust or the Shareholders of any subsequent change in the

matters addressed in its opinion, the assumptions on which the conclusions in the opinion are based, or of any subsequent change in applicable law. The opinion of Sidley Austin LLP is not binding on the IRS or any court. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that the IRS will agree with the conclusions of counsel’s opinion and it is possible that the IRS or another tax authority could assert a position contrary to one or all of those conclusions and that a court could sustain that contrary position. Neither the Sponsor nor the Trustee will request a ruling from the IRS with respect to the classification of the Trust for U.S. federal income tax purposes or with respect to any other matter. If the IRS were to successfully assert that the Trust is not classified as a “grantor trust,” the Trust would likely be classified as either a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes, which may affect the timing and/or other tax consequences to the Shareholders, or as a publicly traded partnership that would be taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, in which case the Trust would be taxed in the same manner as a corporation on its taxable income and distributions to Shareholders out of the earnings and profits of the Trust would be taxed to Shareholders as ordinary dividend income.

Except as otherwise indicated, the remainder of this discussion assumes that the Trust is classified as a grantor trust for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

Taxation of U.S. Shareholders

Each Shareholder will be treated, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, as if it directly owned a pro rata share of the underlying assets held in the Trust. A Shareholder also will be treated as if it directly received its respective pro rata share of the Trust’s income, if any, and as if it directly incurred its respective pro rata share of the Trust’s expenses. In the case of a Shareholder that purchases Shares for cash, its initial tax basis in its pro rata share of the assets held in the Trust at the time it acquires its Shares will be equal to its cost of acquiring the Shares. In the case of a Shareholder that acquires its Shares as part of the creation of a Basket, the delivery of BNB to the Trust in exchange for a pro rata share of the underlying BNB represented by the Shares will not be a taxable event to the Shareholder, and the Shareholder’s tax basis and holding period for the Shareholder’s pro rata share of the BNB held in the Trust will be the same as its tax basis and holding period for the BNB delivered in exchange therefor. For purposes of this discussion, and unless stated otherwise, it is assumed that all of a Shareholder’s Shares are acquired on the same date and at the same price per Share. Shareholders that hold multiple lots of Shares, or that are contemplating acquiring multiple lots of Shares, should consult their own tax advisers as to the determination of the tax basis and holding period for the underlying BNB related to such Shares.

Current IRS guidance on the treatment of convertible virtual currencies classifies BNB as “property” that is not currency for U.S. federal income tax purposes and clarifies that BNB can be held as a capital asset, but it does not address several other aspects of the U.S. federal income tax treatment of BNB. Because BNB is a new technological innovation, the U.S. federal income tax treatment of BNB or transactions relating to investments in BNB may evolve and change from those discussed below, possibly with retroactive effect. In this regard, the IRS has indicated that it has made it a priority to issue additional guidance related to the taxation of virtual currency transactions, such as transactions involving BNB. In addition, the IRS and U.S. Treasury Department have issued regulations regarding the tax information reporting obligations and tax basis for certain digital asset transactions, as well as a safe harbor for certain investment trusts staking digital currencies. While the U.S. federal government has started to issue such additional guidance, whether any future guidance will adversely affect the U.S. federal income tax treatment of an investment in BNB or in transactions relating to investments in BNB is unknown. Moreover, future developments that may arise with respect to digital currencies may increase the uncertainty with respect to the treatment of digital currencies for U.S. federal income tax purposes. This discussion assumes that any BNB the Trust may hold is properly treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as property that may be held as a capital asset and is not currency for purposes of the provisions of the Code relating to foreign currency gain and loss.

The Trust may use BNB to pay certain expenses of the Trust, which under current IRS guidance will be treated as a sale of such BNB, and it may sell BNB to distribute cash to Authorized Participants redeeming Shares and to pay certain expenses. If the Trust sells BNB (for example to generate cash to pay fees or expenses) or is treated as selling BNB (for example by using BNB to pay fees or expenses), a Shareholder will recognize gain or loss in an amount equal to the difference between (a) the Shareholder’s pro rata share of the amount realized by the Trust upon the sale and (b) the Shareholder’s tax basis for its pro rata share of the BNB that was sold. A Shareholder’s tax basis for its share of any BNB sold by the Trust should generally be determined by multiplying the Shareholder’s total