Bitwise has launched the first US spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) for NEAR Protocol, beginning trading on NYSE Arca on Tuesday under the ticker NRR. The fund arrives as NEAR has risen significantly in recent weeks.
NEAR trades at $5.04 according to market data, reflecting a 175.24% gain over 30 days from below $2 at the start of September. This monthly performance ranks fourth among the 100 largest crypto assets, according to CoinGecko. Much of the climb occurred in the second half of September as the fund cleared its final regulatory steps, with NYSE Arca certifying the fund's SEC registration on September 28, one day before trading began.
The NRR fund charges a 0.75% management fee. Bitwise plans to stake the fund's NEAR holdings in-house, providing shareholders exposure to the network's average staking reward of approximately 5%.
Bitwise positions NEAR as a settlement layer for AI agents that perform transactions on behalf of users. The firm cited NEAR Intents, the protocol's flagship product, as evidence of this use case, noting the product has processed over $32 billion, up from under $1 billion a year ago.
In a previous research report, Bitwise outlined price scenarios through 2030. The base case projects NEAR at $155.85, while the bear case estimates $1.63, assuming centralized AI firms dominate the sector. The maximum case reaches $562.81.
The NEAR ETF launch comes as Bitwise winds down BWOW, its Dogecoin ETF, which stops trading on October 14. The closure of the single-token Dogecoin fund suggests that low fees alone may not sustain demand for such products.
