DAPP vs HECO

DAPPBVanEck Digital Transformation ETF

HECODState Street Galaxy Hedged Digital Asset Ecosystem ETF

In short

DAPP Crypto exposure without the crypto. DAPP holds the equities of the digital-asset economy (exchanges, miners, infrastructure) and by its own mandate never buys a coin, a coin derivative, or an ICO.

HECO Crypto-adjacent stocks with an airbag bolted on. HECO holds the miners, exchanges and blockchain builders, adds crypto exposure via ETFs and futures, then runs an options overlay built to damp the volatility.

Stated mandate

DAPP Before fees and expenses, the Fund seeks to follow the price and yield performance of the MVIS Global Digital Assets Equity Index, which is designed to represent companies participating in digital-asset economies.

HECO The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing in companies expected to benefit from crypto-asset and blockchain adoption, while also obtaining crypto exposure through ETFs and futures. It uses an option-overlay hedge strategy to manage overall volatility.

Why people hold it

• DAPP A clean split of the trade: you own the businesses built around digital assets, while the fund is barred from holding the assets themselves or derivatives on them.usnews.comaaii.com
• 0.52% expense ratio, a shade under the typical global thematic fund, for a rules-based index rather than a manager's hunches.
• One of the more actively traded names in its thematic peer group, which generally means less bid-ask friction on the way in and out.
• Launched in 2021, early to the crypto-equity shelf, and built on VanEck's own MVIS Global Digital Assets Equity Index.

• HECO The hedge is the point: an option overlay sits on top of the crypto-equity basket to manage overall volatility, a different bargain than owning the sector raw.ssga.com
• Two exposures in one wrapper: operating companies expected to benefit from crypto and blockchain adoption, plus direct crypto exposure through ETFs and futures.ssga.com
• Actively managed, global mandate, roughly 60 holdings. The manager can rotate as the ecosystem shifts rather than ride a fixed index.
• Conventional 1940 Act ETF plumbing from State Street, run alongside Galaxy on the digital-asset side.

Worth knowing

• DAPP Non-diversified by design and concentrated in miners and exchanges, so a single company's stumble can move the whole fund.usnews.comaaii.com
• These companies live off digital-asset activity, so the ride tends to track the crypto cycle even though no coins are held.
• Not an income holding: nothing was paid out over the past year, so the whole case rests on share prices.

• HECO At 0.90% a year it prices above the typical fund in its crypto-equity peer group, and above its unhedged sibling DECO at 0.65%. The overlay is the upcharge.
• Thinly traded, so spreads can widen. Limit orders matter more here than in the category's heavyweights.
• Hedges cut both ways: damping volatility also means surrendering some of the sector's sharpest upswings. Short history too, with a 2024 launch.

Full DAPP profile⁠

Full HECO profile⁠