I thought the same thing. Then thought: what really would have been badass is a footnote that said something like We know this isn't really what it means. along with a link to the original forum post.

Then I thought: I wonder if some marketer / PR drone told them it would be a bad look to associate themselves w/ bitcointalk. Like it would be a bridge too far.

Would love to know the real answer, but of course we never will.

How do you do, fellow kids?

Still. Van Eck has been a proponent of Bitcoin for years, and comments like:

"When U.S. spending was out of control in the 1960’s, my father launched the first gold share fund in the U.S., even though gold had been pegged against the dollar for about 190 years. Investing in gold bullion was illegal at the time. Three years later, the peg broke."

show that this is far more than just a tourist.

I may buy some HODL (VanEck BTC ETF), which could be used for tradfi leverage plays, securities based lending positions or other bank recognized collateral.