Bitwise Is Looking to List a NEAR Protocol Token ETF That Tracks the Price of NEAR

Digital asset manager Bitwise is seeking to list an exchange-traded fund that tracks NEAR, the native token of the NEAR protocol, according to a Tuesday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

If approved, the Bitwise NEAR ETF will track the price of NEAR minus the expenses of the fund’s operations, with Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) acting as the custodian. The management fees and ticker weren’t included in the filing.

The fund “provides investors with the opportunity to access the market for NEAR through a traditional brokerage account without the potential barriers to entry or risks involved with acquiring and holding NEAR directly,” according to the filing. It won’t use derivatives.

Bitwise did not respond to etf.com’s request for comment.

What is NEAR?

NEAR is a digital asset and the native token of the NEAR protocol, a decentralized application platform for developers that focuses on user-friendliness. The protocol is a competitor of Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), the blockchain platform with the native token Ether (CRYPTO: ETH), the second-largest crypto by market capitalization after Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC).

NEAR’s market capitalization is $2.7 billion as of Wednesday morning, making it the 33rd-largest crypto, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

The Rise of Altcoin ETFs

With Bitcoin and Ether spot ETFs gaining SEC approval last year, asset managers are seeking approval for a slew of other altcoins, including Litecoin, Solana and Cardano.

But in many cases, we’re not likely to hear back from the SEC on those filings for at least a few months, Bryan Armour, director of ETF and passive strategies research for North America at Morningstar, told etf.com.

“With that said, it certainly seems that the SEC has become more crypto-friendly,” Armour said. “The odds of approval are higher than with the previous administration, and I would say the timeline is shorter—if they were to be approved—than it would have been before the new administration.”

As an example of that friendlier stance towards crypto, he referred to the launch of the Teucrium 2x Long Daily XRP ETF (NYSE:XRPU) before the futures market had even opened. “Historically, Ethereum and Bitcoin ETFs were built around a more mature futures offering on CME.”

Gains Never Guaranteed

Armour said investors should remember that just because an ETF may be approved doesn’t mean the price of the underlying token will necessarily go up or that the ETF will gain assets.

“There’s a pretty significant drop off from Bitcoin to Ethereum, and Ethereum is significantly larger in market size than a lot of the altcoins that are being filed for,” Armour said.