Morning Minute: VanEck Leans Into 'Degen' Culture with New ETF

Morning Minute is a daily newsletter written by Tyler Warner. The analysis and opinions expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Decrypt. Subscribe to the Morning Minute on Substack.

GM!

Today’s top news:

• Crypto majors tumble after Powell cuts the rate; BTC -2% at $90,250
• Democrats accept portion of Market Structure bill, send 3-page counter
• VanEck leans into Degen culture with new Degen Economy ETF
• Meteora announces $10M in MET token buybacks, will continue
• Fogo shares ICO valuation at $1B, selling 2%

🧨 VanEck Is Launching a “Degen Economy ETF”

Wall Street is no longer dancing around “degen” culture.

They’re embracing it.

📌 What Happened

VanEck is officially converting its Gaming ETF into the VanEck Degen Economy ETF, a first-of-its-kind product tracking the companies powering digital trading, gig work, betting and casinos.

The new VanEck Degen Economy ETF will launch in April 2026.

The ETF will hold public companies whose business models mirror the core behaviors of online degen culture.

Under the filing, to be eligible for inclusion, companies must generate at least 50% of revenue from one or more of these sectors:

• Millennial Finance: digital brokerage platforms, digital asset exchanges, neobanks, consumer credit scoring services, and BNPL and electronic payment providers
• Gig Economy & Online Forums: ride-hailing, food & grocery delivery, online forums, freelance marketplaces and peer-to-peer platforms
• Digital Gambling, Betting & Gaming: online gambling platforms, iGaming software, digital lottery & casino operators, video-game developers and sports data & analytics providers

It’s basically an ETF built around Robinhood culture crossed with Uber + DoorDash and DraftKings - all wrapped into one index.

🗣️ What They’re Saying

“Van Eck is renaming its Gaming ETF ‘Degen Economy’ and switching to track a ‘Degen Economy’ index. To my knowledge, it will be the first fund or ETF with ‘Degen’ in the name.” - Jeffrey Park, Morningstar Research Services

🧠 Why It Matters

It’s undeniable that this “degen economy” has been a real trend post-covid.

The question is - does it make sense to invest in this trend now going into 2026?

In fact, there’s a growing trend online “short degen” of folks who want nothing to do with wide aspects of this particular sector.

But that’s at direct odds of major trends like hypergamblification, an automated gig economy (Waymos that deliver food too) and the proliferation of everything apps (i.e. Robinhood).

The bull case for the Degen ETF:

• It reflects real shifts in consumer behavior. Younger generations are choosing mobile-first finance, onchain markets, gig work, and digital betting
• It captures fast-growing sectors. Exchanges, neobanks, sports betting, gaming and gig markets are some of the highest-growth segments of the modern economy
• It brings a cultural narrative into regulated finance. The degen trend is one that most adults know and are well aware of and it’s an easy-to-understand investment thesis.

The bear case:

• Degen behavior is inherently volatile. Many of these industries move in boom-bust cycles, tied to sentiment, user incentives, and regulatory swings (and the regulatory pendulum may swing back hard on gambling soon, especially)
• Some categories rely on disposable income. Betting, gaming, delivery, and gig platforms tend to suffer fast in downturns
• Structurally high churn. Degen culture rewards novelty, meaning today’s winners can quickly become tomorrow’s losers

Overall, if I had to choose whether to go long or short the Degen ETF, I would…

Go long. At least on a near-term time frame (next 1-2 years).

It’s hard to see these massive cultural trends breaking down in the very near future (even though there are signs that this trend is cracking in the younger generations).

And the investment thesis is very easy to understand.

Hey, you know your brother/cousin/neighbor/friend that stays in their basement, gambles online and orders Uber Eats all the time?

Ya you can bet on him continuing to do that.

So I guess I’m long degen culture. And now we all have a way to express that bet…

🌎 Macro Crypto and Memes

A few Crypto and Web3 headlines that caught my eye:

• Crypto majors tumbled after Powell cut interest rates for the 3rd time; BTC -2% at $90,30; ETH -4% at $3,200, BNB -2% at $868, SOL -4% at $131
• TEZ (+6%) and MYX (+6%) led top movers
• Fed Chair Powell cut the interest rate by 25 bps as expected, though 2026 forecasts raised concerns that cuts may be slowing
• Democrats accepted “significant portions” of the market structure bill and have countered with a 3-page of changes
• Cathie Wood said the 4-year Bitcoin cycle will be disrupted, implying a potential reshaping of BTC’s long-term market dynamics
• Superstate announced support for issuing tokenized equity on blockchain platforms (Ethereum + Solana)
• Stripe acquired crypto paymets startup Valora, a mobile crypto payments app built on EVM, pushing further into stablecoins
• Do Kwon faces sentencing today for his role in the TerraLUNA ecosystem crash
• Bhutan launched TER as a sovereign-backed gold token on Solana, still holds $536M in BTC
• A US banking regulator warned that crypto debanking efforts “weaponize finance,” demanding end to exclusion of crypto firms

In Corporate Treasuries / ETFs

• Both the BTC and ETH ETFs have flipped to big net buyers since Nov 20, with $535M in net inflows for BTC and $574M for ETH
• The Trump family’s “American Bitcoin” added nearly $40M worth of BTC to its holdings

In Memes / Onchain Movers

• Memecoin leaders are mostly red; DOGE -5%, Shiba -3%, PEPE -5%, PENGU -10%, BONK -3%, TRUMP -2%, SPX -5%, and FARTCOIN -3%
• The TRUMP memecoin team revealed the “Official Trump Crypto Game” with 1 million in SOL meme-coin rewards

💰 Token, Airdrop & Protocol Tracker

Here’s a rundown of major token, protocol and airdrop news from the day:

• Meteora disclosed $10M in MET token buybacks, accumulating 2.3% of its supply in Q4 and said they will continue doing discretionary token buybacks
• Fogo shared new ICO details, raising $20M at a $1B valuation with mainnet coming Jan 13
• Gemini gained CFTC approval for its prediction market to launch in the US
• Sports dot Fun announced its ICO on Legion and Kraken as it looks to branch into new sports
• Surf raised $15M for its AI platform “built for crypto markets”

🚚 What is happening in NFTs?

Here is the list of other notable headlines from the day in NFTs:

• NFT leaders were mostly red; Punks -4% at 28.9 ETH, Pudgy -1% at 5.2, BAYC -6% at 5 ETH; Hypurr’s -2% at 487 HYPE
• Nakamigos +13% were a notable mover