- Bitwise has submitted an S-1 filing to the SEC in a bid to launch a NEAR-based ETF.
- The ETF will track NEAR’s price using a benchmark, with Coinbase Custody managing fund assets.
- NEAR joins other altcoins in Bitwise’s ETF lineup amid ongoing delays from the SEC.
Bitwise Asset Management has submitted a Form S-1 registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) formally requesting to launch a NEAR-based Exchange Traded Fund. The move advances Bitwise’s latest attempt to bring altcoin-based ETFs to the market. The filing comes after Bitwise registered a trust for the NEAR ETF in Delaware on April 24, 2025. If approved, the fund will offer investors exposure to NEAR, the native token of the NEAR Protocol blockchain.
Bitwise NEAR ETF to Rely on Price Benchmark, with Coinbase Handling Custody
As noted in the S-1 document, the Bitwise NEAR ETF will mirror the value of NEAR through the CF NEAR-Dollar Settlement Price. This benchmark, adjusted for operational expenses and liabilities, will be reflected in the fund’s net asset value (NAV). The investment objective of the ETF is to reflect the value of NEAR held by the trust while taking into account the expenses associated with the fund operations.
Coinbase Custody Trust Company, LLC will act as the custodian of the ETF and will hold and protect the fund’s NEAR tokens, manage relevant accounts, and assist in carrying out any NEAR transactions related to the fund. The ETF’s ticker symbol and the trading exchange where the ETF would be available wasn’t specified by the filing.
NEAR is the native cryptocurrency of the NEAR Protocol, which is a scalable, proof-of-stake blockchain aimed at enabling high-throughput decentralized applications. NEAR was trading at $2.30 at the time of the filing, having dropped 0.8 percent in the past 24 hours.
The Altcoin ETF Portfolio of Bitwise Expands Amid Delayed SEC Review
NEAR ETF is not the first application submitted by Bitwise. Already, the asset manager offers ETFs that track Bitcoin and Ethereum and is hoping for a green light for funds pegged on Solana (SOL), Dogecoin (DOGE), XRP (XRP), and Aptos (APT).
The SEC has proceeded slowly on these applications. Several altcoin ETF filings, including those for XRP and Dogecoin, have seen decision deadlines pushed to mid-June 2025. The cautious regulatory pace mirrors the SEC’s continuing scrutiny of financial products tied to altcoins, even as the sentiment for cryptocurrency ETFs has improved under the administration of Joe Biden.
In January 2024 and July 2024, Bitcoin spot ETFs and Ethereum spot ETFs were approved, respectively. While these approvals set a shift in regulatory posture, they haven’t been extended to altcoin-based products. While approval of altcoin ETFs may be far off, analysts suggest the volume of filings indicates increasing efforts by asset managers to widen institutional exposure to the greater digital asset market.
Bitwise’s move to launch its NEAR-based ETF suggests another way in which the company is diversifying its products to include tokens beyond the most established cryptocurrencies. According to data from BeInCrypto, NEAR is ranked as the 44th biggest cryptocurrency by market cap, worth about $2.8 billion.
