Bitwise has launched a spot exchange-traded fund for NEAR Protocol, giving U.S. investors exposure to the token through a conventional brokerage account. The fund began trading Tuesday on NYSE Arca under the ticker NRR and carries an annual expense fee of 0.75%.
The launch comes after a sharp recovery in NEAR’s market price. The token traded at about $5.09 on Binance on Tuesday, compared with August lows near $1.60—almost three times lower. Moneyiar market data later showed NEAR at $5.241103807 at 09:34 on October 1, 2026, up 2.92% over 24 hours and 25.96% over seven days.
According to Decrypt, Bitwise describes NRR as the first spot NEAR product available in the United States. A spot fund holds the underlying asset itself, unlike a futures-based product, whose performance is linked to contracts tracking the expected future price of an asset.
What the new fund offers
An ETF, or exchange-traded fund, is bought and sold on a stock exchange in the same way as shares. NRR is intended to give investors access to NEAR without requiring them to open a crypto-exchange account or manage a digital wallet. The tokens are held within the fund, while investors own shares representing an interest in its assets.
Bitwise charges 0.75% a year for the fund. That amounts to $75 annually for every $10,000 invested, before considering changes in the value of the investment. The fund is concentrated in a single asset, and Bitwise warns that investors could lose a significant portion or all of their money.
NRR will also stake the NEAR tokens it holds. Staking involves committing tokens to support the operation and validation of a blockchain, with rewards paid in additional tokens. Bitwise says its internal team expects to pursue average rewards of about 5%, with those rewards reflected in an increase in the fund’s value per share.
The stated reward level is not guaranteed. Bitwise says staking returns can change, while the process includes “slashing” risk: penalties may be imposed when a validator violates network rules. Those risks are in addition to the normal price risk associated with holding NEAR.
NEAR’s blockchain and AI focus
NEAR is a layer-1 blockchain, or a base network on which other applications can be developed. Ethereum and Solana are examples of other layer-1 networks. NEAR’s main network went live in 2020.
The project’s positioning also draws on artificial intelligence. NEAR co-founder Illia Polosukhin was a co-creator of the Transformer architecture used by ChatGPT-style models. In May 2024, NEAR launched an AI research lab led by Polosukhin and fellow co-founder Alex Skidanov.
Bitwise is presenting the network as infrastructure for an economy in which AI agents can perform tasks and interact with one another. These agents are software systems designed to take actions on a user’s behalf, such as making payments or arranging a trip. Bitwise Chief Executive Hunter Horsley said the company believes an economy increasingly operated by such agents could create a new area of global economic activity.
The asset manager also points to Near Intents, a service that enables asset swaps across different blockchains. Bitwise says the service has processed more than $32 billion in volume.
A recovery after earlier volatility
NEAR’s latest advance follows an earlier burst of momentum. The token rose 28% in a 24-hour period in May after upgrades related to privacy, artificial intelligence and scaling. It subsequently fell back toward $2 during the summer before recovering to above $5.
Despite the rebound, the token remains about 75% below its all-time high of more than $20. The source material places its market capitalization at approximately $6.5 billion when the token was trading just above $5.
Bitwise first filed Delaware paperwork for a NEAR fund in April 2025, when the token was priced at $2.61. Grayscale filed in January 2026 to convert an existing NEAR trust into an ETF, at a time when NEAR was trading around $1.54.
The regulatory path for crypto funds became more straightforward in September 2025, when the Securities and Exchange Commission approved generic listing standards. Those standards allow exchanges to list qualifying crypto funds without seeking separate approval for every individual product. Litecoin, Hedera and Solana funds followed in October, including Bitwise’s Solana staking ETF.
Moneyiar market picture
Moneyiar data recorded at 09:34 on October 1, 2026, puts NEAR Protocol at $5.241103807, with a 2.92% 24-hour gain and a 25.96% seven-day increase.
For comparison, Moneyiar’s AI Rig Complex index was at $0.0725412519 at 09:33, down 1.02% over 24 hours and 5.77% over seven days. ADI stood at $8.1905586544 at the same time, down 0.41% over 24 hours and 4.93% over seven days.
