TLDR
- Bitwise launched the first US spot NEAR ETF, ticker NRR, on NYSE Arca on September 29.
- NEAR traded near $4.94 to $4.97, up about 167% over the past month.
- NEAR Intents volume climbed to more than $32 billion, up from under $1 billion a year ago.
- The ETF charges a 0.75% fee and will stake tokens through Bitwise’s institutional team.
- NEAR Intents blocked over $50 million tied to the Bitget hack, freezing about $503,000.
Bitwise has launched the first US spot exchange-traded fund tracking NEAR Protocol. The fund began trading on NYSE Arca on September 29 under the ticker NRR.
The future is NEAR.
Introducing $NRR—the Bitwise NEAR ETF—giving investors exposure to the emerging agentic economy.$NRR is the first spot $NEAR ETP in the U.S. and offers in-house staking to maximize NEAR's ~5% staking rewards.*
Why @NEARprotocol?
↳ Built at the… pic.twitter.com/mdMRSBljz4
— Bitwise (@Bitwise) September 29, 2026
The ETF holds NEAR directly and charges a 0.75% annual management fee. Shares trade during normal exchange hours through a standard brokerage account.
Bitwise also plans to stake the fund’s tokens through its own institutional team. The company cited a current network staking rate near 5%, though rewards can shift over time.
NEAR traded around $4.94 on Tuesday, according to CoinGecko data. The token has gained roughly 167% over the past month and is up about 81% over the past year.
The broader crypto market rose 0.69% to $2.9 trillion in the same period. Bitcoin traded near $84,000, Ether near $2,700, XRP above $1.50, and Solana above $120.
Despite the monthly gain, NEAR fell 4.62% over 24 hours, trading near $4.97. The token still held above $4.90 as the ETF news broke.
NEAR Intents and AI Agent Activity
NEAR Intents, the network’s cross-chain transaction protocol, has seen its volume grow past $32 billion. That figure compares with less than $1 billion roughly a year earlier.
Bitwise chief investment officer Matt Hougan told Cointelegraph that AI agents are a growing use case for NEAR. He said most activity on the network today is still human-driven.
NEAR Protocol’s official account marked the ETF launch on X, writing that the Bitwise NEAR ETF gives institutions access to “the protocol powering universal markets, the privacy renaissance, and user-owned AI.” The post linked to further details on the fund and included images of the listing.
BlackRock said in a research paper last week that AI agents could raise demand for stablecoins and tokenized assets as machine-to-machine transactions grow more common. The firm called AI a possible driver of digital asset adoption.
Hougan pointed to cross-chain usability as a factor behind Intents’ growth. He said bridging between blockchains has been a challenge for close to a decade, costing users time and money.
Price Levels to Watch
A four-hour chart placed NEAR near $4.93, with its most recent candle up 0.35%. The move followed a September climb from roughly $2.00 to above $5.00.
The four-hour relative strength index stood at 51.57, close to neutral. The MACD line stayed below its signal line, with a negative histogram.
A close above $5.00 would open a path toward $5.30, then $6.00. Failure to hold $5.00 could send the price back toward $4.70, with $4.50 as further support.
NEAR Intents also blocked more than $50 million in transfers linked to the $387.5 million Bitget hack this week. Its SHIELD system froze about $503,000 during execution, while roughly $166,000 in suspected stolen funds passed through the protocol.
