⏱ 2 min read
The new NYSE Arca-listed fund (NRR) charges 0.75%, will hold NEAR directly and plans to stake a significant portion of its tokens as Bitwise leans into NEAR’s intents-and-AI thesis.
Bitwise Asset Management has launched a US-listed NEAR ETF on NYSE Arca under the ticker NRR. The firm said the fund charges a 0.75% management fee, will hold NEAR directly and intends to stake a significant portion of the tokens. Bitwise also described NRR as the first US spot exchange-traded product to track NEAR.
Matt Hougan, Bitwise’s chief investment officer, told Cointelegraph the firm sees autonomous AI agents as a growing use case for the NEAR network and has already observed evidence of agent activity there, while noting most current usage remains human-driven. He added that Bitwise has worked toward the US product since launching a European NEAR exchange-traded product in June 2025. NRR adds to Bitwise’s US single-asset lineup that includes funds tracking bitcoin, ether, solana, XRP and Hyperliquid.
Bitwise said activity on NEAR Intents—the network’s cross-chain transaction system—has risen to more than $32 billion from less than $1 billion a year ago, implying more than a 32-fold increase. The protocol lets users or AI agents specify an outcome while competing third-party solvers execute across supported chains, aiming to abstract away bridging and routing complexity.
The AI-agent angle has drawn interest from large financial institutions. BlackRock said in a recent research paper that autonomous software agents could lift demand for stablecoins, cryptocurrencies and tokenized assets as machine-to-machine transactions proliferate, calling AI a potential “structural catalyst” for digital asset adoption.
Operationally, Bitwise’s plan to stake fund-held NEAR means staking rewards would typically accrue to the vehicle, net of fees, and could affect how closely the fund’s total return tracks spot price. Staking can also introduce operational and validator-related risks, including potential penalties under network rules.
Separately, NEAR Intents said this week it blocked more than $50 million in attempted transfers linked to the Bitget hack. The protocol reported that its SHIELD system froze about $503,000 during execution while roughly $166,000 in suspected stolen funds passed through.
Market backdrop: CoinGecko data showed NEAR gained about 167% over the past month to trade around $4.94 on Tuesday, and is up roughly 81% year over year.
What to watch next
Fund documents detailing how staking rewards are handled, the extent of staking, validator selection and any protections against slashing. Initial trading volume, spreads and asset flows in NRR. Independent measurements of NEAR Intents volumes and a clearer split between human and agent-driven activity.
This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
🧠 HafidWatch Take
The effectiveness of Bitwise’s NEAR ETF in delivering net yield will depend heavily on how staking rewards are managed relative to fees and slashing risks, but also on the fund’s validator choices and the proportion of tokens staked. If staking represents a large share of the fund’s holdings without strong protections, returns could diverge significantly from NEAR’s spot price. Monitoring these operational details is crucial alongside NEAR Intents’ growth, as changes in agent activity or network conditions could impact the fund’s performance more than initial trading volumes or flows.
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