VanEck Says Bitcoin Adoption Is Growing as Sovereign Mining Expands

VanEck, the roughly $200 billion asset manager, says Bitcoin adoption is still advancing at the sovereign level, with its latest research pointing to state-backed mining activity in as many as 13 nations even as broader crypto sentiment remains defensive.

VanEck said on its corporate site that it had $205.2 billion in global assets under management as of Jan. 31, 2026, which is why its Bitcoin market commentary carries more weight than a recycled social-media headline.

$205.2 billion

VanEck says it had $205.2 billion in assets under management globally as of January 31, 2026.

VanEck’s documented case is sovereign adoption, not a viral soundbite

In its Dec. 22, 2025 ChainCheck note, VanEck wrote that up to 13 nations are mining Bitcoin with support from their central governments.

A Feb. 18, 2026 Securities.io report separately highlighted the same up-to-13-nations mining claim, giving VanEck’s thesis an additional layer of media confirmation even though the underlying evidence still traces back to VanEck’s own research.

The significance of the 13-nation estimate is that sovereign mining requires energy access, regulatory tolerance, and physical infrastructure. That makes it a harder adoption signal to dismiss than broad pro-Bitcoin rhetoric or campaign messaging.

Treasury accumulation widened the adoption trend beyond mining

VanEck said Digital Asset Treasuries added 42,000 BTC from mid-November to mid-December 2025, taking aggregate holdings to 1.09 million BTC.

In plain terms, Digital Asset Treasuries are balance sheets that hold Bitcoin as a reserve asset rather than just a trading position. That matters because the 42,000 BTC monthly increase suggests the adoption story was broadening at the same time mining support was reaching as many as 13 nations.

The balance-sheet angle also fits a wider access trend across crypto finance. TrustsCrypto recently covered Charles Schwab’s planned Bitcoin and Ethereum trading rollout, another sign that institutional and sovereign Bitcoin adoption can keep expanding even when market mood remains fragile.

Adoption data improved even as sentiment stayed weak

Bitcoin’s latest quoted baseline in the research brief showed a price near $66,891, a market cap of about $1.34 trillion, and 24-hour volume of about $26.68 billion, while the Fear & Greed Index stood at 9, a reading labeled Extreme Fear.

$1.34 trillion

CoinGecko’s latest quote shows Bitcoin with a market cap of about $1.34 trillion.

VanEck also said Bitcoin’s 30-day moving-average hash rate fell 4% over the prior 30 days, the largest decline since April 2024.

That combination is why the VanEck note reads as structural adoption data rather than a short-term price call. The 4% hash-rate drop and the Fear & Greed reading of 9 describe stress in the current market, while the 13-nation mining estimate and 42,000 BTC treasury addition point to adoption that is still moving underneath that volatility.

That gap between long-term positioning and short-term fear is also visible elsewhere in crypto. Readers tracking why risk appetite remains uneven can compare it with TrustsCrypto’s coverage of the Drift Protocol hack and who lost money, where security shocks weighed on sentiment even as institutional Bitcoin access stories kept advancing.

What remains verified, and what does not

The exact wording that Bitcoin adoption “continues to grow despite the war” and that VanEck was seeing it “at the sovereign level” remains unconfirmed, according to the research brief, because no accessible primary transcript or interview page was retrieved for that phrasing.

That is why the cleaner editorial angle is the Dec. 22, 2025 VanEck research note, which does directly document state-backed mining in up to 13 nations, 42,000 BTC added by digital asset treasuries, and a 4% decline in the 30-day moving-average hash rate.

FAQ

Did VanEck directly show that governments are buying Bitcoin for treasury reserves? No. The verified VanEck claim is that up to 13 nations are mining Bitcoin with support from their central governments, which is different from proving that all of those governments are making direct treasury purchases.

What does the up-to-13-nations figure actually mean? It means VanEck believes as many as 13 countries are involved in Bitcoin mining with official backing. It does not mean every one of those states has disclosed holdings, passed a Bitcoin standard, or announced a public reserve strategy.

Why does the article avoid leaning on the war-framed quote? Because the phrasing about adoption growing “despite the war” was flagged as unverified in the brief, while the Dec. 22, 2025 ChainCheck note is a directly accessible primary source with specific data points that can be checked line by line.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Cryptocurrency and digital asset markets carry significant risk. Always do your own research before making decisions.