Bitwise Launches First Spot Near ETF in U.S.
Bitwise commenced trading its Near ETF on Tuesday, offering U.S. investors a new avenue to gain exposure to the AI-focused Near blockchain through conventional brokerage accounts. The fund, listed on NYSE Arca under the ticker NRR, carries an annual fee of 0.75%, according to Bitwise.
The company touts the fund as the first spot Near fund in the United States. The term “spot” signifies that the ETF holds actual Near tokens, as opposed to futures contracts, which are derivatives based on anticipated price movements.
Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are investment vehicles that can be bought and sold like stocks. For individuals who have avoided cryptocurrency exchanges or digital wallets, this offers a simplified entry point: the underlying tokens are held within the fund, and the ETF shares appear alongside other investments in their brokerage application.
The timing of the ETF’s launch appears opportune, particularly given Near’s recent surge in performance, with its value skyrocketing since May.
This is not the first significant price movement for Near this year. In May, the token experienced a 28% jump within 24 hours, driven by upgrades related to privacy, artificial intelligence, and scaling. However, it subsequently retreated to around $2 over the summer. Currently, Near is trading just above $5, with a market capitalization of $6.5 billion. Despite this recent uptick, the token remains approximately 75% below its all-time high of over $20.
Near operates as a layer-1 blockchain, serving as a foundational network upon which other applications are built, placing it in the same category as prominent networks like Ethereum and Solana. Its main network was launched in 2020.
The connection to artificial intelligence stems from co-founder Illia Polosukhin, who is also a co-creator of the Transformer architecture, the underlying technology for models such as ChatGPT. Near established an AI research lab in May 2024, under the leadership of Polosukhin and co-founder Alex Skidanov.
Bitwise’s investment thesis emphasizes the potential of AI agents, which are software programs designed to perform tasks on behalf of users, such as making payments or booking travel arrangements.
“We are moving toward a world in which AI agents increasingly act on our behalf, coordinate with one another, and participate in the economy,” stated Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley. “We believe this shift—to an agentic economy where more and more happens through AI agents—could unlock an enormous new frontier for the global economy. NEAR is building a platform for that future.”
Bitwise also highlighted that Near Intents, a service facilitating asset swaps across different blockchains, has processed over $32 billion in volume.
The Bitwise fund also engages in token staking. Staking involves locking up tokens to support the validation of network transactions, with participants earning rewards in return, akin to interest but paid in additional tokens. Bitwise anticipates that its internal team will stake the fund’s Near holdings to achieve average rewards of approximately 5%, which will accrue to shareholders through an increase in the fund’s per-share value.
However, these rewards are not guaranteed. Bitwise’s disclosures indicate that reward rates are subject to change, and staking carries the risk of “slashing,” which involves penalties imposed when a validator violates network rules. Furthermore, the fund concentrates on a single asset, and Bitwise cautions that investors could potentially lose a substantial portion or all of their investment.
Bitwise initially filed paperwork in Delaware for a Near fund in April 2025, when the token was trading at $2.61. Grayscale subsequently filed in January 2026 to convert its existing Near trust into an ETF, at a time when Near was priced around $1.54.
The regulatory landscape for such funds became more favorable in September 2025, when the SEC approved generic listing standards. These standards allow exchanges to list qualifying crypto funds without requiring individual approval for each one. Following this, funds for Litecoin, Hedera, and Solana were introduced in October of that year, including Bitwise’s own Solana staking ETF.
Bitwise charges an annual fee of 0.75% for the NRR ETF, which translates to $75 for every $10,000 invested.
