Bitwise Sticks a Staking Flag on Its Near ETF, Plants It on NYSE Arca 🏳️

Bitwise Asset Management filed a second amendment to its S-1 registration with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed spot NEAR ETF, adding staking as a secondary investment objective and selecting NYSE Arca as the intended listing exchange, according to the latest public filing. The amended product is designed to give investors regulated exposure to NEAR held by the trust while generating additional income through staking activity, marking one of the first explicit staking features in a US spot altcoin ETF proposal.

The filing names The Bank of New York Mellon as cash custodian, administrator, and transfer agent, and designates Coinbase Custody as the digital asset custodian for the fund. Bitwise has not yet disclosed a management fee, ticker symbol, or details of any fee waiver period, leaving those key terms to be set in subsequent amendments.

Bitwise first initiated its spot NEAR ETF registration with the SEC roughly a year ago, and the new amendment advances the application into a more defined structural phase. The asset manager's broader push into spot crypto ETFs has included filings tied to bitcoin and ether products, with the NEAR proposal positioning the firm at the early edge of altcoin ETF structuring in the US market.

NEAR, the native token of the Near Protocol network, rose about 5% immediately following the filing disclosure and extended gains to nearly 12% as crypto markets posted a broad recovery led by renewed AI sector interest. NEAR is among several layer-1 tokens that have seen renewed institutional attention amid the wider rebound across digital assets.

The amended S-1 also outlines risk factors standard to spot crypto ETF filings, including regulatory uncertainty around staking services, custody and security risks, and market volatility tied to the underlying asset. The product, if approved, would trade on NYSE Arca under terms to be finalized in future filings with the SEC.