This Tuesday (29), Bitwise began trading the Bitwise NEAR ETF, the 1st spot exchange-traded product in the United States dedicated to the NEAR token. The fund debuted on NYSE Arca under the ticker NRR and holds the assets directly in custody.
The product seeks to track the value of the NEAR held by the fund, net of fees and other expenses. The management fee is 0.75% per year, according to the asset manager.
In addition to exposure to the asset's price, Bitwise intends to use staking as a secondary objective of the fund, seeking to generate additional NEAR from the tokens held by the structure. The company said it plans to conduct the activity internally through its institutional staking team.
Staking expands exposure beyond NEAR's price
Staking allows tokens to be used in validating and securing the network in exchange for rewards. Bitwise estimates that NEAR's annualized reward rate was close to 5% on September 25, although the yield may vary and does not represent a guaranteed return for the fund.
The structure also introduces additional risks. The product documents warn that staking may involve loss of rewards, penalties and operational uncertainties, in addition to potentially reducing the amount of tokens immediately available to meet redemptions.
NRR comes to market after NYSE Arca approved the listing of the shares and the fund's registration statement became effective on September 24. The product uses direct exposure to NEAR, without relying on futures contracts to track the asset.
The launch expands Bitwise's offering of single-asset products in the United States. The asset manager already maintains vehicles linked to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP and Hyperliquid.
