Bitwise NEAR ETF Clears SEC Registration and NYSE Arca Listing

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission declared the registration statement for the Bitwise NEAR ETF effective on September 24, clearing the key federal step for a spot fund tied to the NEAR Protocol token. Bitwise also filed Form 8-A to register the fund's common shares for listing on NYSE Arca under the ticker NRR, FXStreet reported on September 26, linking the SEC effectiveness notice directly.

The two approvals cover the two checkpoints a crypto fund must pass before trading: the SEC must allow the shares to be offered, and an exchange must agree to list them. Effectiveness formally allows the shares to be offered once the remaining exchange and operational pieces fall into place, while the listing approval is what technically permits NRR to trade on a national exchange. The Cryptonomist wrote on September 28 that the fund has now cleared both, setting up a possible market debut.

The product is a spot ETF, meaning it plans to hold NEAR tokens directly rather than tracking the price through futures contracts. Bitwise set the annual sponsor fee at 0.75 percent. The fund also includes a staking component, aiming to earn additional returns by staking its NEAR holdings on top of simple price exposure, according to FXStreet. In practice, that means returns could reflect both the token price and whatever additional NEAR accrues from staking, net of fees and expenses. Coinbase Custody will serve as custodian.

Neither the effective registration nor the exchange listing sets the first trading day. Recent reports point to a possible start around September 29, though the exact date depends on the remaining launch steps, the Cryptonomist noted. FXStreet put the same caution in its account, saying the filings bring the fund closer to trading without confirming a launch date. Once live, the fund will trade under the ticker NRR on NYSE Arca, giving brokers and retail platforms a recognizable symbol for the product.

The approvals landed during a sharp run in the token itself. NEAR touched a one-year high near $5 after gaining more than 7 percent in a single day, the Cryptonomist reported. At the time of that Friday report, the token traded close to $5, up 6 percent over 24 hours and roughly 176 percent over 30 days, with a $6.5 billion market value ranking it 22nd among cryptocurrencies. The token has gained about 240 percent since the start of the year, recovering from its earlier 2026 lows on elevated trading activity. Whether the move reflects anticipation of the fund or wider interest in the token is not something the filings answer.

The fund news coincides with a busy stretch for the network. NEAR Protocol confirmed the NEAR/USDC pair is live on Hyperliquid's spot market and added to the venue's strict list, giving traders another venue for on-chain exposure alongside existing perpetual markets. The project also pushed its privacy setup into perpetual futures through near.com, where positions are now confidential by default using NEAR Confidential Intents with Hyperliquid handling execution, letting users fund positions with assets from more than 30 chains. NEAR Intents power those transactions and cross-chain routing, with support for confidential execution. And near.com announced a partnership with Ondo Finance that will let eligible users buy, trade and hold tokenized United States stocks and exchange-traded funds through their accounts.

The appeal of the fund is access rather than novelty. Investors who want NEAR exposure inside a standard brokerage account, including retirement accounts where direct token custody is impractical, would be able to buy NRR like any other listed fund instead of managing wallets and private keys. How closely the shares track the token once trading begins, and how much the staking component adds net of fees, will only become visible after launch.