NEAR Enters US Crypto Market with First-Ever Spot ETF

The first U.S. spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) providing direct exposure to NEAR has launched, marking another expansion of the country's rapidly growing market for single-asset cryptocurrency investment products.

The launch means investors can gain exposure to the price of NEAR through a conventional brokerage account without purchasing the cryptocurrency directly, managing private keys or interacting with the NEAR blockchain.

Unlike futures-based products, spot ETFs are designed to hold the underlying cryptocurrency and issue shares whose value broadly tracks those holdings after accounting for fees and other fund expenses.

The development brings NEAR into a U.S. crypto ETF market that has expanded considerably since the Securities and Exchange Commission approved the first spot Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024.