Bitwise Asset Management has launched the Bitwise NEAR ETF, which it describes as the first U.S. spot NEAR exchange-traded product. According to the company’s September 29 announcement, the product will trade on NYSE Arca under the ticker NRR.
The fund offers investors exposure to NEAR’s price movements while also seeking to capture staking rewards. Bitwise has set the annual management fee at 0.75%.
NEAR ETF Also Targets Staking Rewards
Bitwise plans to stake the fund’s NEAR tokens through its in-house institutional staking team. Citing network data from September 25, the company reported an annualized NEAR staking reward rate of approximately 5%.
However, this figure does not represent a guaranteed return for ETF investors. Bitwise notes that rewards may change and that staking income earned by the fund will accrue to shareholders through its net asset value per share.
According to the product’s official website, the fund aims to stake all NEAR holdings outside its liquidity reserve. With the reserve set at zero as of September 28, the initial target is to stake approximately 100% of its tokens.
The manager reviews the liquidity reserve each month. As a result, the proportion of assets allocated to staking may change depending on the fund’s policies and operational needs.
Bitwise Highlights the AI Economy
At the launch, Bitwise emphasized NEAR’s transaction infrastructure for artificial intelligence applications. Matt Hougan, the company’s chief investment officer, said AI agents making reservations, payments and asset swaps on behalf of users would need fast and reliable settlement systems.
The company pointed to NEAR Intents as a leading example of this approach. According to Bitwise’s announcement, the protocol’s cumulative transaction volume has exceeded $32 billion.
NEAR Intents aims to simplify transactions across different blockchains for users. The protocol’s official overview describes a system that reduces the need to manage transaction fees and bridging processes separately across networks.
This infrastructure serves decentralized finance applications, AI agents and individual users. Developers can also access liquidity across different networks through a single integration.
How Does NEAR Intents Execute Transactions?
Users specify the outcome they want from a swap. Service providers known as “solvers” then compete by offering quotes to fulfill the request.
In NEAR’s example, a user wants to exchange BTC on the Bitcoin network for USDC on Arbitrum. The interface submits the request to the system; connected providers offer quotes, and the transaction proceeds based on the selected offer.
This model aims to let users holding assets across different networks manage swaps through a single interface. For AI applications, the same infrastructure provides a mechanism for executing specified transactions on a user’s behalf.
Fund Shares Differ From Direct NEAR Ownership
NRR investors will gain indirect exposure to NEAR through fund shares. The product’s official documents emphasize that buying ETF shares is not the same as purchasing NEAR tokens directly.
The fund’s value will depend on the market value of the NEAR it holds. Management expenses will also affect the amount of NEAR represented by each share, while staking carries additional risks, including lost rewards and operational disruptions.
Although the product uses “ETF” in its name, it is not an investment company registered under the U.S. Investment Company Act of 1940. It therefore does not offer the same protections as traditional investment funds registered under that law.
At the time of writing, NEAR was trading at around $4.96.
