NEAR Rises 26% as Bitwise NEAR ETF Moves Closer to SEC Approval

NEAR Protocol has jumped roughly 26% over the past week, with the token now trading near $4.90-$5.00 as Bitwise’s proposed NEAR ETF cleared one of its most important regulatory steps yet.

The key development is not a fresh ETF application. Bitwise’s product has been in registration for months. What changed this week is that the SEC declared the fund’s registration statement effective on Sept. 24, while Bitwise also filed Form 8-A to register the ETF’s shares for exchange trading. The official SEC effectiveness notice confirms the registration became effective on Sept. 24.

Separately, the Form 8-A states that an application to list the Bitwise NEAR ETF on NYSE Arca has been filed and approved. The proposed ticker is NRR.

That pushes the fund materially closer to trading, but it is still important not to call this a new SEC “approval” in the broad sense.

NEAR has been one of the stronger large-cap crypto assets this month.

CoinCodex data show the token trading near $4.91, up more than 35% over seven days at the latest reading. From around $3.90-$4.00 earlier in the week, the move into the $5 area represents roughly a mid-20% gain, which is why the ETF catalyst is drawing so much attention.

The ETF itself is designed to hold NEAR directly. Bitwise’s latest prospectus says the trust’s primary objective is to track the value of NEAR held by the fund, while its secondary objective is to earn additional NEAR through staking.

That staking feature makes the product more unusual than a simple spot-crypto ETF.

The biggest distinction is procedural.

An SEC EFFECT filing means the registration statement has become effective. A Form 8-A registers the shares under the Exchange Act. NYSE Arca approval clears another listing requirement.

But those steps are not the same thing as saying the ETF is already trading.

That makes this similar to other crypto ETF stories where the filing stage matters just as much as the headline.