Matthew Sigel
Head of Digital Assets Research; Portfolio Manager, VanEck Onchain Economy ETF, VanEck
Matthew Sigel combines digital-assets research with direct portfolio-management responsibility, providing an asset-manager perspective on institutional access, settlement and value capture in onchain markets.
Why the room needs them.
VanEck appointed Matthew Sigel to lead digital-assets research in 2021. An SEC filing names Sigel as the portfolio manager responsible for day-to-day management of the VanEck Onchain Economy ETF from April 2025. Those verified responsibilities are directly relevant to a discussion about how banks, exchanges and asset managers may compete as regulated financial activity moves onchain.
The full account.
Matthew Sigel is Head of Digital Assets Research at VanEck and portfolio manager of the VanEck Onchain Economy ETF. Proof of Talk’s official 2026 programme listed Sigel as Head of Digital Assets Research at VanEck for the Day 1 panel “Banks, Exchanges, and Asset Managers: Who Controls Institutional Access When Markets Move Onchain?”, scheduled from 17:20 to 18:00 on 2 June 2026 at the Hecto Main Stage.
VanEck announced Sigel’s appointment to the newly created research role on 16 April 2021. The appointment release describes an earlier career in financial journalism, equity research, portfolio management and institutional investment strategy. It records work covering finance for Bloomberg, CNBC and NHK, followed by responsibility as an analyst and portfolio manager for AllianceBernstein’s US and Global Thematic equity funds. VanEck also records a subsequent decade at CLSA as a portfolio strategist and author of the “HELLO INVESTORS” newsletter.
A FINRA-hosted Investment Adviser Public Disclosure report identifies the individual as Matthew Joel Sigel, CRD number 5411498. Its employment history records Van Eck Associates Corporation from April 2021 and Van Eck Securities Corporation from January 2022, under the role Head of Digital Assets Research, Digital Assets. The report’s underlying professional information was last updated on 31 January 2023.
Sigel’s work at VanEck includes both research and portfolio management. An SEC-filed summary prospectus for the VanEck Onchain Economy ETF names Matthew Sigel as the portfolio manager primarily responsible for day-to-day management and records April 2025 as the start date. VanEck’s current profile and commentary published on 4 September 2026 continue to use the title Head of Digital Assets Research.
Research co-authored by Sigel has examined Bitcoin valuation scenarios, portfolio allocation and corporate blockchain economics. VanEck’s Bitcoin figures are explicitly hypothetical model outputs, not forecasts of actual performance or personal achievements. Its January 2026 capital-market-assumptions paper models a base case of $2.9 million per bitcoin by 2050 and a 15 per cent compound annual growth rate. Its May 2026 corporate-blockchain study models an annual opportunity exceeding $60 billion. Both publications state that assumptions, simulations and forward-looking statements are illustrative and subject to uncertainty.
What Matthew believes about the next ten years.
Years of shipping.
What they have built, written, and backed.
Built
- VanEck Onchain Economy ETFPortfolio manager primarily responsible for day-to-day management from April 2025.
- Bitcoin 2050 Valuation Scenarios: Global Medium of Exchange and Reserve AssetCo-author with Patrick Bush. The valuation outputs are hypothetical model scenarios.
- Optimal Crypto Allocation for PortfoliosCo-author with Patrick Bush and Denis Zinoviev. The study presents simulated and hypothetical model results.
- The Rise of Corporate BlockchainsCo-author with Patrick Bush. Its opportunity and valuation figures are estimates based on VanEck models and assumptions.
The next Proof of Talk is in Abu Dhabi.
Louvre Abu Dhabi, 3–4 December 2026. Admission is by application, and the room is capped at 2,000.
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