Key Insights:
- Bitwise ushers in the dawn of the Spot NEAR ETF in the US as trading commences on the NYSE Arca.
- NEAR crypto records the largest daily spot outflow in recent history, largely driven by profit-taking.
- Near Protocol achieved record-high TVL growth and the second-highest monthly revenue collection in September.
The NEAR protocol just got its first-ever NEAR ETF courtesy of Bitwise. But will this milestone lend more bullish energy to the bulls, especially considering its performance this month?
The NEAR community is celebrating a major milestone after Bitwise launched the first NEAR ETF. The NEAR crypto now joins the growing list of cryptocurrencies that have spot ETFs in the US. The new ETF was launched on the NYSE Arca.
Bitwise noted in its official announcement that the new NEAR ETF will trade under the ticker NRR. The asset manager noted that the new ETF will give investors exposure to the agentic economy. This is one of the key areas where the NEAR protocol is focusing heavily.
NEAR crypto also has a staking component. This means the new ETF will also offer investors exposure to staking rewards.
The NEAR ETF Launch Cushions NEAR Price
NEAR price kicked off Monday with a sizable retracement. For context, it was down by about 10% from its opening to closing price during the trading session.
This pullback was expected considering that the cryptocurrency maintained a strong uptrend since the start of September. It peaked at $5.57 on Sunday, a 206% gain from its lowest price point in September.
NEAR price was deep in overbought territory prior to the pullback. In other words, a retracement was expected, and this may explain why it just experienced possibly its largest spot outflow in months.
Net spot outflows clocked $28.9 million on Monday. This was the largest daily outflow observed in more than a year. This contributed heavily to the pullback on the same day.
However, it appeared that the news about Bitwise’s new NEAR ETF launch ignited a reaction in the market. NEAR price bounced back from as low as $4.5 on Tuesday morning to $5.06 at press time. This slight recovery suggests that investors received the news positively.
What’s Really Behind The NEAR Crypto Rally Prior to The ETF Announcement?
NEAR’s parabolic performance was a reflection of what was happening in the network. NEAR intents saw significant growth, and so did the overall network performance.
To put things into perspective, the NEAR Protocol TVL jumped from as low as $170 million in August to $371 million, according to the latest data. The TVL is now hovering at historic highs.
NEAR Protocol fees have also grown steadily. It has so far generated over $6.75 million worth of fees in September. Fees have more than doubled compared to May, the month with the lowest fees so far this year.
Despite the surging monthly fees, September 2026 is the second-best month after November 2025. NEAR Protocol collected $67.8 million from network fees that month.
Nevertheless, the growing monthly fees reflect robust activity growth over the last three months. In conclusion, NEAR Protocol’s appeal has been rising, and investors are noticing. The launch of the first spot NEAR ETF is a clear indicator of that growth.
This NEAR ETF launch represents a new pathway for TradFi investor liquidity. In other words, NEAR crypto may be about to benefit from an institutional liquidity injection.
Note that this may boost the price in the long term, but the short-term outlook may still have profit-taking-induced retracements on the cards.
