Bitwise Launches First US Spot Near ETF After Token Nearly Triples Since August

Bitwise has launched its Near ETF (NRR) on the NYSE Arca exchange, giving US investors a way to bet on the AI-focused Near blockchain from their brokerage accounts. The fund holds actual Near tokens and charges an annual fee of 0.75%, according to Bitwise.

Near is a layer-1 blockchain that went live in 2020, with its main network launched by co-founders Illia Polosukhin and Alex Skidanov. Its AI angle traces back to Polosukhin's work on the Transformer architecture behind ChatGPT-style models.

Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley stated that 'We're moving toward a world in which AI agents increasingly act on our behalf, coordinate with one another, and participate in the economy.' The fund also stakes tokens, locking them up to help validate transactions and capture rewards of around 5%.