Bitwise's spot NEAR ETF (NRR) began trading on NYSE Arca on September 29, 2026, becoming the first US fund to offer direct exposure to NEAR Protocol tokens. The product stakes its holdings and launches after NEAR roughly tripled from its August levels, with the token now near $4.86 and derivatives traders trimming leverage.
Bitwise's NEAR ETF (NRR) started trading on NYSE Arca on September 29, giving US investors their first spot exchange-traded product built directly on NEAR Protocol tokens. The fund arrives after NEAR spent much of August near $1.60–$2.00 before rallying above $5 in September.
NEAR's Rally Sets the Backdrop
At the time of writing, NEAR trades at $4.86, having briefly climbed above $5.40 during the rally. The daily Relative Strength Index stood at 71.90, marginally above the 70 threshold typically associated with overbought conditions, though that measure reflects momentum rather than fair value.
Derivatives positioning has shifted alongside the price move. NEAR open interest stood at roughly $853.3 million but fell 16.15% over the prior 24 hours, led by Hyperliquid, Binance and Bybit as the largest venues for open positions.
How the Staking-Enabled Fund Works
Unlike a fund that only tracks price, Bitwise plans to stake 100% of the ETF's holdings, passing rewards back to shareholders after taking a cut. Bitwise takes a 33% cut of the additional NEAR generated through staking, with the remaining 67% flowing back to the fund. Coinbase Custody safeguards the underlying tokens, while BNY Mellon handles cash and administrative operations.
The fund charges an annual management fee of 0.75%, which Bitwise has temporarily waived on the first $500 million in assets during its first three months. NYSE Arca approved the listing and the SEC confirmed the registration's effectiveness on September 24, five days before the fund began trading.
Bitwise Links NEAR to the AI-Agent Thesis
Bitwise is also pitching NEAR around demand from autonomous AI agents, citing estimates that agentic commerce could grow to $5 trillion by 2030. That forecast concerns the broader agentic-commerce market and does not mean that sum would flow through NEAR specifically, nor does holding the token grant any equity claim in AI companies.
NRR now gives investors a conventional brokerage route into NEAR's price and staking rewards. But it starts trading after the token's steepest rally in months, leaving the fund's early performance as a test of whether demand follows NEAR post-surge.
Sources: Crypto News Flash, Crypto Briefing
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