Bitwise Asset Administration has formally submitted a Kind S-1 registration assertion to the US Securities and Alternate Fee (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 Submitting
The proposed ETF goals to trace the worth of NEAR, the native token of the NEAR Protocol. It’s a layer-1 blockchain targeted on scalability and decentralized purposes.
The submitting didn’t specify the precise trade where the ETF will be listed or the ticker symbol it should use. Coinbase Custody Belief Firm, LLC will function the custodian. It will likely be chargeable for safeguarding the Belief’s NEAR, managing the Belief’s NEAR account, and facilitating required NEAR transfers.
“The Belief’s funding goal is to hunt to offer publicity to the worth of NEAR held by the Belief, much less the bills of the Belief’s operations and different liabilities. In looking for to realize its funding goal, the Belief will maintain NEAR and set up its web asset worth (“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 knowledge reveals 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 affords ETFs tied to main cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). It’s also looking for SEC approval for a number of extra, together with Dogecoin (DOGE), Solana (SOL), XRP (XRP), and Aptos (APT).
“Bitwise is betting massive on altcoin legitimacy. Wall Road publicity to L1s is getting actual,” an analyst wrote on X.
Whereas 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 strategy 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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