Bitwise debuts first US spot NEAR ETF as token nears triple since August
AI & Agents ·
The NRR fund began trading on NYSE Arca, pairing direct NEAR exposure with staking income while the token extends a months-long rally.
Bitwise's new exchange-traded fund, ticker NRR, opened for trading Tuesday on NYSE Arca, marking what the firm describes as the first US-listed fund holding actual NEAR tokens rather than derivatives tied to the asset. The product carries a 0.75% annual management fee, according to Decrypt. NEAR itself changed hands near $5.09 on Binance, close to triple where it sat around $1.60 back in August.
The structure lets ordinary brokerage accounts gain exposure to NEAR without users needing a crypto wallet or exchange login — shares simply trade alongside other securities. Bitwise also plans to stake the fund's holdings to pursue rewards that have historically averaged around 5%, though the firm is explicit that this yield is not promised and can shift over time. Coverage from The Block notes the fund intends to stake its full NEAR allocation, while CryptoPotato reports that 33% of staking rewards will be directed toward covering operational costs rather than passed entirely to shareholders.
Bitwise frames the launch around NEAR's positioning as an AI-oriented layer-1 network, pointing to its Near Intents cross-chain swap service, which the firm says has processed more than $32 billion in volume. Bitwise's chief executive has tied the bet to a broader vision of AI agents transacting autonomously across an "agentic economy," with NEAR positioned as infrastructure for that shift. The fund's disclosures also flag staking-specific risks, including potential slashing penalties tied to validator misconduct, and warn that because the fund holds a single asset, investors could lose a substantial portion or all of their investment.
The listing arrives after a lengthy regulatory runway: Bitwise filed Delaware paperwork for a NEAR fund back when the token traded near $2.61, and a separate filing from Grayscale to convert its existing NEAR trust followed later, at a point when the token was trading around $1.54. A September 2025 SEC decision to approve generic listing standards helped clear the path for the product to reach market.
Market attention around the launch has coincided with notable on-chain activity, including a wallet showing an unrealized gain of roughly $15.5 million on a position of 5.84 million NEAR tokens, according to a post shared on X. Still unclear is how staking rewards will trend as more capital flows into the fund, and whether rival filings, including Grayscale's pending conversion, will bring competing NEAR ETFs to market.