Bitwise Asset Management has launched the Bitwise NEAR ETF on NYSE Arca under the ticker NRR, giving U.S. brokerage accounts a listed product that holds NEAR directly. Trading began on September 29, according to the sponsor's launch announcement.
The fund charges a 0.75% management fee. Bitwise says it intends to stake the trust's NEAR through its institutional staking team, with earned rewards accruing to the fund's net asset value rather than being paid as a separate distribution. The prospectus describes spot NEAR exposure as the primary objective and staking as a secondary objective.
The launch followed the effectiveness of the trust's registration statement. The SEC filing record lists September 24 as the effective date. That filing milestone allows the offering to proceed, but it is not an assessment by the regulator of NEAR or of the product's investment merits.
Staking changes the product's return and risk profile compared with a vehicle that only holds tokens. Rewards can add NEAR to the trust, while validator penalties, operational failures and delays in making assets available for redemptions can reduce that benefit. The reward rate is variable, and investors also remain exposed to movements in NEAR's market price.
NRR is an exchange-traded product rather than a fund registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Bitwise's materials state that it does not receive the same protections as mutual funds and ETFs registered under that law. Shares also represent an interest in the trust, not direct ownership of NEAR in a personal wallet.
The product widens regulated U.S. access to a single-network crypto asset beyond bitcoin and ether. The next useful measures will be trading volume, assets accumulated by the trust and the amount of staking rewards retained after fees and operating costs. Cointelegraph also reported the launch and the staking design.