Bitwise has launched what it says is the first US spot exchange-traded product designed to track NEAR, extending mainstream access to the Layer-1 token via a fund listed on NYSE Arca. The new product, the Bitwise NEAR ETF, trades under the ticker NRR and holds NEAR directly.
The fund charges a 0.75% management fee. Bitwise also said it intends to stake a “significant portion” of the tokens held in the ETF, a structure that could matter for investors watching how yield mechanisms are implemented inside regulated vehicles.
Key takeaways
- Bitwise’s new US spot NEAR ETF (NRR) gives investors exposure to NEAR through a NYSE Arca-listed product holding the token directly.
- The ETF’s stated management fee is 0.75%, and Bitwise plans to stake a significant portion of its NEAR holdings.
- Bitwise linked the timing to rising demand for NEAR’s cross-chain “Intents” protocol, citing a sharp increase in transaction volume over the past year.
- Bitwise’s CIO Matt Hougan pointed to AI agents as a growing prospective use case for NEAR, while noting that most current activity still appears human-driven.
A new regulated on-ramp for NEAR
NRR marks Bitwise’s latest addition to its US single-asset crypto ETF lineup, which already includes products tracking Bitcoin (BITB), Ether (ETHW), Solana (BSOL), XRP (XRP), and Hyperliquid (BHYP). According to Bitwise, NRR is designed to track NEAR on a spot basis, rather than using futures or derivatives-based exposure.
The move follows Bitwise’s work on a NEAR ETF in the US that started after the firm launched a European NEAR exchange-traded product in June 2025. Bitwise’s timing also arrives as NEAR itself has drawn renewed attention from traders: CoinGecko data cited in the announcement shows NEAR up roughly 167% over the past month, trading around $4.94 on Tuesday, and up about 81% over the past year.
Why Bitwise points to Intents usage
In explaining the rationale for the ETF launch, Bitwise highlighted increased activity on NEAR Intents, the network’s cross-chain transaction protocol. The firm said Intents volume has surged to more than $32 billion, compared with less than $1 billion a year earlier, according to Bitwise’s figures.
That matters because an ETF can become a proxy for broader ecosystem engagement: if cross-chain transaction demand grows around NEAR Intents, investors may view NEAR as capturing value tied to that activity. At the same time, it remains important to separate “ecosystem narrative” from measurable network economics—what the protocol captures directly versus what is merely routed through it can differ.
AI agents as a future demand engine
Bitwise chief investment officer Matt Hougan told Cointelegraph that the firm sees AI agents as an increasingly relevant use case for NEAR. He said there is already evidence of agents using the network, but he expects growth over time and emphasized that most activity on NEAR today remains human-driven.
Hougan also framed NEAR Intents as a better fit for autonomous software behavior. In his view, the “goal-based” design aligns with how large language models and agents operate: instead of requiring agents to manage complex routing and execution details across chains, they can specify outcomes while third parties do the execution.
This perspective aligns with broader institutional discussion of AI’s potential impact on crypto demand. Earlier, BlackRock said in a research paper that AI agents could help increase demand for stablecoins, cryptocurrencies, and tokenized assets as machine-to-machine transactions become more common. BlackRock described AI as a potential “structural catalyst” and argued that programmable assets could be suited to high-frequency, low-value transactions that run continuously.
For investors, the practical question is whether AI-driven transaction patterns will translate into sustained blockchain usage and, ultimately, value accrual for networks like NEAR. With NRR now available as a regulated spot product, market participants can more easily position for that thematic bet.
Cross-chain execution in focus after security response
NEAR Intents has also attracted attention for its role in security and asset movement. This week, the protocol said it blocked more than $50 million in attempted transfers linked to the $387.5 million Bitget hack.
NEAR Intents reported that its SHIELD system froze about $503,000 during execution, while approximately $166,000 in suspected stolen funds passed through the protocol. The episode underscores a recurring theme in cross-chain infrastructure: even when systems are designed to improve usability, they must still handle risky traffic, incomplete information, and adversarial conditions across multiple environments.
Hougan argued that cross-chain abstraction is central to Intents’ growth. He pointed out that “bridging and cross-chain abstraction has been a challenge for crypto for nearly a decade,” citing how many users have lost time and money navigating the space. The ETF launch doesn’t directly change that technical reality, but it may increase the audience for NEAR-based ecosystem exposure among investors who previously struggled to gain regulated access.
What to watch next
With NRR now live, investors should watch how quickly inflows build, whether Bitwise’s staking plan scales as intended, and—more importantly—whether Intents volume growth is accompanied by sustained demand that can plausibly benefit NEAR over the long run as AI agent activity evolves.
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