QUICK SPARK: Bitwise Launches First Spot NEAR ETF In US

Bitwise launched the Bitwise NEAR ETF ) to give investors exposure to NEAR Protocol and its push into the emerging "agentic economy."According to Bitwise, NRR is the in the U.S. and offers in-house staking, targeting NEAR’s roughly 5% staking rewards.The firm highlighted NEAR Intents, which it says has processed more than $32 billion in volume, up from less than $1 billion a year ago. NEAR transactions settle in about 1.2 seconds and cost a fraction of a cent, while the network’s inflation rate was recently cut to 2.5% annually.Bitwise also points to NEAR’s roughly $6 billion market cap, fully unlocked token supply and a fee mechanism that now funds buybacks.QUICK CONTEXT: Bitwise Bets On AI-Crypto ConvergenceNRR gives U.S. investors a new ETF wrapper for exposure to NEAR, a blockchain project that Bitwise is positioning at the intersection of AI and crypto. The investment case centers on NEAR’s role as a transaction layer for AI agents and its cross-chain infrastructure.A key differentiator is in-house staking. Rather than simply holding NEAR, the ETF intends to stake the tokens and pass through the associated rewards, with Bitwise citing an approximately 5% staking yield.The launch also comes as crypto ETF issuers expand beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum into individual digital assets and more specialized blockchain themes. For NEAR, the pitch combines network growth, staking income and tokenomics — including lower inflation and fee-funded buybacks — into a single exchange-traded product. See More: Photo: Shutterstock