Bitwise Launches First US Spot NEAR ETF With Staking Fees Taking 33% of Rewards

Two of the three parties sharing the NEAR fund's cut are Bitwise itself and Attestant, the affiliate expected to run its validators. Asset manager Bitwise has officially launched a spot NEAR Protocol (NEAR) exchange-traded fund on NYSE Arca on Tuesday, with a 0.75% annual management fee. The fund trades under the ticker NRR and holds NEAR directly, with Coinbase Custody as custodian. Its registration took effect with the SEC on September 24, after Bitwise first filed in May 2025. Fees Take a Third of Rewards Bitwise called NRR the first spot NEAR exchange-traded product in the US. The company already runs a BaFin-approved NEAR staking product in Europe. “NEAR sits at the intersection of two of the biggest trends in technology: AI and crypto,” said Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer of Bitwise. Hougan also said that AI agents that make payments and trades for their users will need fast settlement that does not rely on a single custodian, and pointed to NEAR Intents, the network’s cross-chain transaction protocol, as an early example. Bitwise said the protocol has processed over $32 billion in volume, up from under $1 billion a year earlier. The company outlined NEAR’s market valu...