Bitwise Files for Spot NEAR ETF as Altcoin ETF Race Heats Up

Bitwise Asset Management has taken a fresh step in expanding its crypto ETF offerings by filing for a spot Near Protocol (NEAR) exchange-traded fund with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The move, disclosed in a May 6 registration statement, positions Bitwise among a growing wave of asset managers racing to gain regulatory approval for altcoin-based ETFs.

The proposed Bitwise NEAR ETF aims to mirror the market price of NEAR — the native token of the Near blockchain — excluding management fees. While specifics such as the ticker symbol, fee structure, and intended stock exchange listing remain undisclosed, the filing names Coinbase Custody as the fund’s potential custodian.

To move forward, Bitwise must submit a 19b-4 form to the SEC — a necessary step to formally initiate the regulatory review process. The firm indicated plans to do so when it registered a statutory trust for the NEAR ETF in Delaware on April 28.

The SEC now faces a busy docket, with over a dozen spot crypto ETF proposals pending review in 2025. These include filings tied to altcoins such as Solana, Dogecoin, Litecoin, XRP, Cardano, Chainlink, Hedera, Avalanche, Aptos, Polkadot, and Sui.

Bitwise, already a frontrunner in the crypto ETF space, has pending applications for spot DOGE, SOL, and XRP ETFs, and it currently offers approved spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs — both trading on NYSE Arca. Since launch, the two funds have attracted a combined $2.35 billion in net inflows.

NEAR, currently the 44th-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization at $2.73 billion according to CoinGecko data, powers the Near blockchain — a Layer-1 network once branded as a potential “Ethereum killer.” Near has aimed to tackle the so-called “blockchain trilemma” by balancing security, scalability, and decentralization.

The network employs Nightshade sharding technology to achieve up to 100,000 transactions per second, supported by 265 active validators, according to Nearblocks.io. 

Meanwhile, Bitwise Asset Management recently expanded its reach into the European market by launching four new cryptocurrency Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

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