Bitwise has launched the first U.S. spot exchange traded product offering direct exposure to NEAR, opening another route for investor demand after the token rallied toward $5 ahead of the fund’s debut.
Summary
- Bitwise’s NRR has begun trading on NYSE Arca, giving US investors direct exposure to NEAR through a spot ETF.
- New NRR share creations could translate into purchases of underlying NEAR if the fund attracts sustained investor inflows.
- Bitwise plans to stake the fund’s NEAR holdings, with staking rewards flowing into NRR’s NAV while some tokens remain committed to staking.
- NEAR traded around $4.93 after rallying ahead of the ETF launch, leaving actual NRR inflows as a key measure of post launch demand.
According to Bitwise Asset Management, the Bitwise NEAR ETF began trading on NYSE Arca under the ticker NRR on Sept. 29, with a 0.75% management fee and plans to stake the fund’s NEAR holdings.
NRR holds NEAR directly instead of using derivatives, meaning demand for new fund shares can ultimately require the product to acquire underlying tokens. The structure gives investors access through traditional brokerage accounts without requiring them to buy NEAR on a crypto exchange or manage their own wallets.
Staking adds another component to the fund. Bitwise said it intends to stake NEAR through its institutional staking operation, with rewards accruing to shareholders through the fund’s net asset value.
Bitwise cited an annualized NEAR staking reward rate of around 5% as of Sept. 25, although the rate can change and does not represent a guaranteed return for NRR shareholders.
NRR could bring new spot demand for NEAR
The ETF creates a direct link between demand for NRR shares and the underlying NEAR market through the fund’s creation process.
Creation and redemption units contain 10,000 shares, according to Bitwise’s filings. New creations can therefore lead to NEAR being acquired for the fund, making NRR flows one of the figures to watch after trading begins.
The size of that effect will depend on how much capital NRR attracts. An ETF listing by itself does not guarantee sustained buying, and NEAR had already rallied considerably before the first trading session.
NEAR traded around $4.93 at the time of writing, giving the token a market capitalization of approximately $6.5 billion.
Part of the ETF catalyst appears to have been priced in during the run up to launch. NEAR was trading near $2.62 on Sept. 16 before moving toward $5 as the Bitwise product cleared its final listing hurdles.
As crypto.news previously reported, NEAR had gained around 43% over seven days by Sept. 25 after NYSE Arca approved NRR’s listing application. The token was up roughly 176% for the year at the time.
Investor flows into NRR could now provide a clearer measure of whether demand continues after the launch.
Staking could keep some ETF holdings away from liquid supply
NRR differs from a spot product that simply holds its underlying tokens in custody because Bitwise intends to stake a significant portion of its NEAR.
Tokens committed to staking are used to participate in the network’s proof of stake system instead of remaining immediately available for ordinary market trading. If NRR attracts capital and its NEAR holdings grow, the amount held through the product and committed to staking could grow with it.
Bitwise said staking rewards will accrue to shareholders through NRR’s NAV. The fund still carries staking risks, including potential slashing, operational issues and liquidity constraints when processing redemptions.
NEAR already has a relatively large share of its supply committed to staking. Bitwise’s Q3 staking research put the network’s staking ratio at around 45% in July.
Institutional interest in the structure had appeared before NRR reached the market. A July filing update that added staking to Bitwise’s proposed ETF coincided with an almost 12% NEAR rally as the token broke above a multweek downtrend.
NEAR ETF arrives after a strong September rally
The ETF launch comes after several developments across NEAR’s trading and blockchain ecosystem contributed to stronger activity around the token.
NEAR spot trading went live on Hyperliquid on Sept. 23 through a NEAR/USDC market. NEAR perpetual open interest on the platform stood near $344 million at the time, while positive funding rates showed long traders were paying shorts.
Onchain activity around NEAR Intents has been another part of the network’s recent growth. The protocol’s confidential total value locked crossed $70 million earlier this month, triggering the first snapshot under its incentive program. Confidential Intents supports private execution across more than 30 connected blockchains.
NEAR has positioned Intents as infrastructure that can allow users and autonomous software agents to execute transactions across different blockchains without manually handling each route.
Bitwise has tied that infrastructure directly to its investment case for NRR. Chief investment officer Matt Hougan said NEAR Intents was already demonstrating how settlement infrastructure for AI agents could operate as software begins handling activities such as payments and swaps.
NEAR Intents has processed more than $32 billion in volume, up from less than $1 billion a year earlier, according to figures published by Bitwise at the ETF launch.
The network has been building token utility around the same strategy. In July, NEAR introduced staking based AI payments that allow users to lock NEAR and receive monthly compute credits for AI services. The system supported 43 AI models at launch, including models from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google.
“AI is fundamentally changing how we access information and how economic activity happens,” Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley said.
Horsley said Bitwise expects AI agents to increasingly act on behalf of users, coordinate with other agents and participate directly in economic activity, with NEAR building infrastructure around that model.
NRR joins Bitwise’s existing lineup of single asset crypto products, including its Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP and Hyperliquid funds. Bitwise manages around $9 billion in client assets as of June 30 and said the NEAR product expands a franchise that already includes a staking ETP in Europe.