Bitwise's fully staked NEAR fund clears NYSE Arca and the SEC for a U.S. listing

Bitwise has set its fee at 0.75% a year ^[7] on a fund sold on staking rewards earned on top of the token's price ^[4]. On the planned $500,000 seed basket ^[11], the fee comes to $3,750 a year ^[12]. It is charged against the same position that produces the rewards. Crypto Briefing does not report NEAR's staking rate, how rewards reach shareholders, or what share Bitwise or Coinbase Custody keeps.

The seed is small. On July 28, 2026 the trust held 8 shares at $25 each, or $200 of net assets ^[10]. The planned basket of 20,000 shares for $500,000 ^[11] keeps the price at $25 a share ^[13] and multiplies net assets 2,500 times ^[14]. Bitwise stakes all of it ^[4]. None of the position sits in cold storage, which is where Crypto Briefing says Bitcoin and Ether ETFs keep their coins ^[5].

NEAR's price moved ahead of the fund. The token rose roughly 20% within 24 hours of the approval news and about 26% over the following week ^[15]. The rest of the week therefore added only about 5% to the first day's level ^[16]. Most of the repricing came on the day of a listing approval that, as Crypto Briefing points out, is not an endorsement of the asset or the security ^[8].

Two readings fit the record. The broad one says U.S. regulators now accept staking yield inside spot crypto funds, and other issuers will copy NRR's design. The narrow one starts from what actually happened. The SEC accepted the design, or rather confirmed effective a registration for a fund built to stake its whole position, and NYSE Arca approved the listing ^[1]. Crypto Briefing's point that approval is not endorsement ^[8] applies to the staking as much as to the token. I think the evidence supports the claim for this fund, and not yet for the whole category. The counter-case is a fair one. An agency that lets a registration go effective for a fund whose stated plan is to stake 100% of its holdings ^[4] has accepted that plan in practice, whatever it says about endorsement. I am wrong if the next fully staked spot filing goes effective on the same terms, at which point the category claim holds.