Bitwise Asset Management has formally submitted a Form S-1 registration assertion to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch the Bitwise NEAR exchange-traded fund (ETF).
The submitting follows Bitwise’s earlier transfer on April 24, 2025, when the agency registered a belief entity for the Bitwise NEAR ETF in Delaware. The S-1 marks the pure subsequent step within the course of.
NEAR Joins the Altcoin ETF Race With Bitwise Filing
The proposed ETF goals to observe the worth of NEAR, the native token of the NEAR Protocol. It is a layer-1 blockchain centered on scalability and decentralized functions.
The submitting didn’t specify the precise alternate where the ETF will be listed or the ticker symbol it can use. Coinbase Custody Trust Company, LLC will function the custodian. It will likely be accountable for safeguarding the Trust’s NEAR, managing the Trust’s NEAR account, and facilitating required NEAR transfers.
“The Trust’s investment objective is to seek to provide exposure to the value of NEAR held by the Trust, less the expenses of the Trust’s operations and other liabilities. In seeking to achieve its investment objective, the Trust will hold NEAR and establish its net asset value (“NAV”) by reference to the [CF NEAR-Dollar Settlement Price] (the “Pricing Benchmark”),” the S-1 reads.
Notably, the transfer did not impact NEAR’s price. Over the previous day, the cryptocurrency has skilled a modest decline of 0.8%. At press time, it traded at $2.3.
BeInCrypto information exhibits that NEAR is the forty fourth largest cryptocurrency, with a market capitalization of $2.8 billion.
NEAR now joins Bitwise’s growing list of altcoin ETF applications. The agency already gives ETFs tied to main cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). It can be in search of SEC approval for a number of extra, together with Dogecoin (DOGE), Solana (SOL), XRP (XRP), and Aptos (APT).
“Bitwise is betting big on altcoin legitimacy. Wall Street exposure to L1s is getting real,” an analyst wrote on X.
While the surge in filings suggests a broader technique to develop its portfolio into altcoins, the trail to SEC approval stays unsure. The company has lately delayed decisions on several cryptocurrency ETF applications, together with these for XRP and DOGE, with deadlines pushed to mid-June 2025.
This sample of delays aligns with the SEC’s cautious method to crypto ETFs past Bitcoin and Ethereum, regardless of a extra favorable regulatory local weather below the Biden administration, which noticed spot Bitcoin ETFs approved in January 2024 and Ethereum ETFs in July 2024.
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