[DigitalToday reporter Yoonseo Lee] Global asset manager Bitwise has launched the first U.S. spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) for NEAR (NEAR).

On Sept. 29 (local time), blockchain media outlet Cointelegraph reported that the product began trading on NYSE Arca under the ticker "NRR".

The product is designed to give investors exposure to NEAR’s price without buying the token directly. The management fee is 0.75 percent. The fund holds NEAR directly, and Bitwise plans to stake a significant portion of the holdings.

Bitwise has continued preparations for an ETF after launching a Europe-listed NEAR exchange-traded product (ETP) in June 2025. NRR is added to Bitwise’s U.S. single-asset crypto lineup, which includes bitcoin, ether, solana, XRP and Hyperliquid.

The launch comes as a recent rise in NEAR’s price coincides with expanding network activity. NEAR has risen about 167 percent over the past month and traded around $4.94 on Sept. 29, according to CoinGecko. The 1-year gain is about 81 percent.

Bitwise highlighted growth in the cross-chain transaction protocol "NEAR Intents". It is structured to process transactions across multiple blockchains, and its transaction volume has risen from under $1 billion a year ago to more than $32 billion recently. Users specify the desired transaction outcome, and external solvers execute it across supported networks.

Matt Hougan (맷 호건), Bitwise’s chief investment officer, explained that cross-chain usability is a key driver of NEAR’s growth. He said the intents structure aligns with the goal-oriented approach of large language models (LLMs) and hides bridges and other complexities from users. He also said bridges and cross-chain abstraction have remained a challenge in the crypto industry for nearly 10 years, and many users have borne time and cost burdens in the process.

NEAR is a layer-1 blockchain for decentralised applications. Since shifting its strategy toward artificial intelligence (AI) in 2024, it has put more weight on cross-chain infrastructure and autonomous AI agents.

Hougan said AI agents could become a new use case for NEAR. He said he has already seen signs that agents are using the network and expects related activity to increase over time. Most activity on NEAR, however, is still driven by humans.

The trend also coincides with moves by major financial institutions to examine whether autonomous software could lift demand for blockchain-based payment infrastructure. BlackRock said in a research report last week that growing machine-to-machine transactions could increase demand for stablecoins, cryptocurrencies and tokenised assets. BlackRock described AI as a "structural catalyst" for digital asset adoption and said programmable assets could be suited to small and high-frequency transactions that take place around the clock.

The ETF launch is drawing attention because it highlights cross-chain transaction infrastructure and AI agent demand as investment themes, as well as NEAR’s price strength. Whether an actual increase in network usage will translate into demand for the ETF will be watched.