DAPP vs SATO

DAPPBVanEck Digital Transformation ETF

SATOCInvesco Alerian Galaxy Crypto Economy 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.

SATO Most crypto-stock funds stop at miners and exchanges. SATO's index also reaches into crypto ETPs and private investment trusts, so one equity ticker carries both the picks-and-shovels crowd and coin-linked vehicles.

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.

SATO The fund seeks cryptocurrency-economy exposure by generally investing 80% of assets in an index of digital-asset companies, crypto-related ETPs, and private investment trusts.

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.

• SATO The index spans digital-asset companies, crypto ETPs and private investment trusts, so coin-linked exposure rides alongside the miners and exchanges.invesco.com
• At 0.66% a year it sits under the typical fee in its crypto-equity peer group and below Amplify's BLOK at 0.70%.
• About 50 holdings with a global mandate, not just the US-listed slice of the crypto trade.
• Running since 2021, through a full crypto boom and bust, and it stands in the upper half of its peer group.

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.

• SATO Small and lightly traded next to the category's biggest names, so the spread on the way in and out can matter more than the expense ratio.
• Owning ETPs and trusts adds a layer of fees inside the fund, and those vehicles can trade away from the value of the assets they hold.invesco.com
• Miners, exchanges and coin vehicles all ride the same sentiment, so spreading across roughly 50 names does little to soften the swings.

Full DAPP profile⁠

Full SATO profile⁠