Bitwise has opened the first US spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) for NEAR Protocol (NEAR). The fund began trading on NYSE Arca on Tuesday under the ticker NRR.
The product’s debut comes amid a time when NEAR nearly tripled in value.
The Rally Ran Ahead of the Opening Bell
NEAR trades at $5.04, according to BeInCrypto Markets data. That price reflects a 175.24% gain over 30 days, from below $2 at the start of September.
That gain ranks fourth among the 100 largest crypto assets by monthly performance, according to CoinGecko.
Much of the climb came in the second half of September, as the listing cleared its final steps. NYSE Arca certified the fund’s registration with the SEC on September 28, one day before trading began.
The rally has also lifted Bitwise’s European NEAR product. Its assets passed $100 million this month, although rising token prices drove most of that growth.
Grayscale filed in January to convert its own NEAR trust into an ETF. That fund has not listed yet, so Bitwise reached US investors first.
What Bitwise Is Selling to US Investors
NRR charges a 0.75% management fee. Bitwise plans to stake the fund’s NEAR in-house, giving shareholders exposure to the network’s average staking reward of about 5%.
Beyond the yield, Bitwise pitches NEAR as a settlement layer for AI agents that book, pay, and swap for users.
“NEAR sits at the intersection of two of the biggest trends in technology: AI and crypto. As AI agents start transacting on our behalf—booking, paying, swapping, and more—the world is going to need settlement infrastructure that’s fast, trustworthy, and doesn’t depend on a single custodian,” Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer of Bitwise, said.
The launch announcement points to NEAR Intents, its flagship product, as early evidence. The protocol has processed over $32 billion, up from under $1 billion a year ago.
The asset manager laid out what that bet could be worth in a previous research report. Its base case sees NEAR at $155.85 by the end of 2030, about 31 times today’s price.
The bear case puts NEAR at $1.63 by 2030, well below today’s $5.04. It assumes centralized AI firms such as OpenAI end up dominating. The max case reaches $562.81.
Meanwhile, the launch coincides with a retreat elsewhere in Bitwise’s lineup. The firm is winding down BWOW, its Dogecoin (DOGE) ETF, which stops trading on October 14.
BWOW’s closure shows that a low fee alone did not draw US investors to a single-token fund. NRR’s first weeks of flow data will show whether demand for NEAR extends beyond the price rally.
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