Crypto29 September, 20262 min read
Bitwise Launches First US Spot NEAR ETF Trading On NYSE Arca Under Ticker NRR
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Bitwise launches first US spot NEAR ETF, trading on NYSE Arca as NRR. NYSE Arca listing approved; SEC effective Sept 24; trading expected around Sept 29.
6 outlets told this the same way.
NRR Spot NEAR Debuts
Bitwise launched the first US spot exchange-traded product tracking NEAR, with the fund trading on NYSE Arca under the ticker NRR. Bitwise set the NRR management fee at 0.75% and said the fund will hold NEAR directly rather than using derivatives. Bitwise intends to stake the fund’s NEAR holdings in-house, and the staking rewards are expected to accrue to shareholders through the fund’s net asset value.
Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley framed the move around an “agentic economy,” saying, “We believe this shift-to an agentic economy where more and more happens through AI agents-could unlock an enormous new frontier for the global economy.” Bitwise also tied the launch to NEAR Intents, which it said has increased sharply, with volume rising to more than $32 billion compared with less than $1 billion a year ago, according to Bitwise.
Intents, AI Agents, and BlackRock
Matt Hougan told Cointelegraph that Bitwise sees AI agents as a growing use case for NEAR and said it has already seen evidence of agents using the network. Hougan linked NEAR Intents to a goal-based approach, saying, “The design of Intents, for instance, aligns with the goal-based orientation of LLMs, and shields them from the complexity of bridging and other challenges.” BlackRock’s research paper argued that AI agents could increase demand for stablecoins, cryptocurrencies and tokenized assets as machine-to-machine transactions become more common.
BlackRock described AI as a potential “structural catalyst” for digital asset adoption, and it argued programmable assets could be suited to high-frequency, low-value transactions that operate around the clock. NEAR Intents’ role in cross-chain activity came into focus after it said it blocked more than $50 million in attempted transfers linked to the $387.5 million Bitget hack, while its SHIELD system froze about $503,000 during execution.
Custody, staking mechanics, and stakes
Bitwise structured NRR as a Delaware statutory trust organized in April 2025, and it said NYSE Arca greenlit the listing application on September 24, 2026 with the SEC validating the trust’s registration statement via a Form 8-A filing the same day. Bitwise said NRR began trading on NYSE Arca on September 29, 2026, and it described the fund as giving everyday investors a way to hold NEAR through a regular brokerage account instead of a crypto exchange wallet. Bitwise said Coinbase Custody would handle NEAR token custody in segregated accounts, while BNY Mellon would oversee cash custody and administrative duties.
Bitwise also said creations and redemptions occur in blocks of 10,000 shares, and it said that structure determines how new demand for NRR shares can flow into purchases of NEAR itself. Bitwise’s staking plan and NEAR’s Intents activity were positioned as the core of the product’s appeal, with Yellow describing NRR as adding planned in-house staking and with NEAR Intents volume cited by Bitwise as more than $32B in cumulative volume.