Bitwise Lists NEAR Staking ETP on Xetra, Broadening Suite of Index-Based Staking Strategies

• Bitwise NEAR Staking ETP is the latest addition to Bitwise’s European index-linked staking ETP suite — aiming to offer investors efficient, regulated exposure to NEAR, the Blockchain for AI.
• NEAR Protocol: A high-performance, energy-efficient, layer-1¹ blockchain built for the AI era—powering cross-chain interoperability and AI-native applications through fast, user-friendly infrastructure.
• Staking: The Bitwise NEAR Staking ETP will seek to stake the NEAR tokens held by the product, with the objective of generating additional returns of approximately 5.5% net of fees and TER, while providing investors with daily liquidity on the stock exchange.

02 July 2025. Frankfurt: Bitwise today announced the launch of the Bitwise NEAR Staking ETP (Ticker NEAR; ISIN DE000A4A5GV2) on Deutsche Börse Xetra. NEAR Protocol is a blockchain platform known for its approach to scalability, low-cost performance, and a user-first vision of decentralization – powering 45M+ monthly active users and 8M daily transactions².

The Bitwise NEAR Staking ETP is designed for both institutional and retail investors who are familiar with digital assets and seeking to diversify their portfolios. The launch marks another milestone in a series of product innovations designed to broaden investment access to the crypto market, provide high-quality investment solutions and timely market insights, and promote transparency and accountability in what is shaping up to be a landmark year for the crypto industry.

The ETP is fully backed and issued in Germany, designed with the objective to deliver efficient staking returns, low total cost of ownership, and superior performance compared to other NEAR staking ETP solutions currently on the market. Staking yields accumulate daily in the ETP seeking to enhance performance. Using a robust and transparent benchmark, the CF NEAR Staked Return Index, investors can accurately track the performance of the ETP after costs and fees compared to the market standard NEAR staking return.

The Biwise NEAR Staking ETP is the fourth to be launched as part of Bitwise’s European Total Return product suite including the Bitwise Ethereum Staking ETP (Ticker: ET32 | ISIN DE000A3G90G9), which recently surpassed €200 million in assets under management.

Bradley Duke, Head of Europe at Bitwise, said: “We are so pleased to launch this new ETP in partnership with NEAR. There is a lot of noise in the world of crypto and we are excited to partner with a genuine innovator in both blockchain and AI. The Bitwise NEAR Staking ETP gives investors exposure to price movements in the NEAR token as well as compounded return from staking rewards all with Bitwise’s best-in-class ETP structure.”

Illia  Polosukhin, Co-Founder NEAR Foundation: “NEAR was built to power a new kind of internet—one where AI serves people, not platforms. This ETP brings that vision closer to investors worldwide. By making NEAR more accessible through Bitwise’s trusted products, we’re accelerating mainstream adoption of user-owned AI infrastructure.”

NEAR Protocol – a layer-1 blockchain designed for usability and scalability

NEAR Protocol is a blockchain platform designed to make advanced technologies like artificial intelligence more accessible and useful. Launched in 2020, NEAR addresses common challenges in blockchain—like slow speeds and high costs—by using a technology called sharding to process many transactions at once.

What sets NEAR apart is its focus on real-world usability: it lets people access apps and services with usernames—similar to email addresses—rather than traditional Web3 wallet codes. It also operates across different blockchains, aiming to simplify the transfer of assets and data between platforms. NEAR is already being used to power AI tools, digital wallets, and applications that give users greater control over their data and digital identity. Its architecture is particularly well-suited for AI, providing the speed, scalability, and data privacy required to support AI-powered applications and autonomous agents.

In Q2 2025, NEAR ranked #2 among the most-used blockchain platforms in terms of monthly active users, just after Solana³. This growth is driven in part by NEAR’s chain abstraction technology, which makes it easier for people to use apps across different blockchains without needing multiple wallets or tokens. With chain signatures, users can access and control accounts on other blockchains directly through their NEAR account, making cross-chain activity simple and intuitive.

Developers also benefit from NEAR’s infrastructure. Its customizable smart contracts support multichain financial applications using secure cryptographic tools—without the need for bridges or wrapped tokens, which can introduce risk and complexity.

Staking NEAR

Staking is a way to generate income for crypto asset owners, and is a key feature for NEAR. On the NEAR Protocol, staking allows token holders to help validate transactions on the network, contributing to its security and reliability. In return, they earn additional tokens – so called staking rewards—similar to how dividends work in traditional equities.

For investors, the Bitwise NEAR Staking ETP may offer a streamlined way to gain exposure to staking rewards without managing the technical aspects of staking or token custody directly. While direct NEAR holders can stake through wallets or validators, the ETP offers distinct benefits—particularly daily liquidity, as it is traded on regulated stock exchanges and involves no lock-up periods or manual delegation. Additionally, the underlying NEAR tokens are held in secure cold storage by a professional institutional custodian, which offers an added layer of asset protection.

Key Product Details

_{*The Net Staking Reward reflects the staking return after all fees (Staking Service Fee and TER) have been deducted, on a per-ETP unit basis. This figure represents the return the ETP is expected to deliver, expressed in annualised, non-compounded % terms. Note: The rate is subject to change based on network and market dynamics. The Net Staking Rewards are accumulated daily within the ETP, seeking to enhance performance. This mechanism increases the cryptocurrency entitlement per ETP unit at the end of each trading day, meaning that the amount of NEAR backing each ETP share adjusts upward over time. You can view the current entitlement per ETP unit in the Cryptocurrency Entitlement Table available on the product page at www.bitwiseinvestments.eu/products.}

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About NEAR Foundation

NEAR Protocol is the blockchain for AI. A high-performance, AI-native platform built to power the next generation of decentralized applications and intelligent agents. It provides the infrastructure AI needs to transact, operate, and interact across Web2 and Web3. NEAR combines three core elements: User-Owned AI, which ensures agents act in users’ best interests; Intents and Chain Abstraction, which eliminate blockchain complexity for seamless, goal-driven transactions across chains; and a sharded blockchain architecture that delivers the scalability, speed, and low-cost execution needed for real-world AI and Web3 use. This integrated stack makes NEAR the foundation for building secure, user-owned, AI-native applications at internet scale.

About Bitwise

Bitwise is one of the world’s leading crypto specialist asset managers. Thousands of financial advisors, family offices, and institutional investors across the globe have partnered with us to understand and access the opportunities in crypto. Since 2017, Bitwise has established a track record of excellence, managing a broad suite of index and active solutions across ETPs, separately managed accounts, private funds, and hedge fund strategies – spanning both the U.S. and Europe.

In Europe, for the past five years Bitwise (formerly ETC Group) has developed an extensive and innovative suite of crypto ETPs, including Europe’s most traded bitcoin ETP, or the first diversified Crypto Basket ETP replicating an MSCI digital assets index.

This family of crypto ETPs is domiciled in Germany and issued under a base prospectus approved by BaFin. We exclusively partner with reputable entities from the traditional financial industry, ensuring that 100% of the assets are securely stored offline (cold storage) through regulated custodians.

Our European products comprise a collection of carefully designed financial instruments that seamlessly integrate into any professional portfolio, providing comprehensive exposure to crypto as an asset class. Access is straightforward via major European stock exchanges, with primary listings on Xetra, the most liquid exchange for ETF trading in Europe. Retail investors benefit from easy access through numerous DIY/online brokers, coupled with our robust and secure physical ETP structure, which includes a redemption feature. For more information, visit http://www.bitwiseinvestments.eu

Media contacts:

JEA Associates
John McLeod
00 44 7886 920436
john@jeaassociates.com

Important information  
This press release does not constitute investment advice, opinions are those of Bitwise and do not constitute an offer or solicitation to buy financial products. This press release is issued by Bitwise Europe GmbH (“BEU”), a limited company domiciled in Germany, for information only and in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations. BEU gives no explicit or implicit assurance or guarantee regarding the fairness, accuracy, completeness, or correctness of this article or the opinions contained therein. It is advised not to rely on the fairness, accuracy, completeness, or correctness of this article or the opinions contained therein. Please note that this article is neither investment advice nor an offer or solicitation to acquire financial products or cryptocurrencies.  
  
Before investing in crypto Exchange Traded Products (“ETPs”), potential investors should consider the following:  
Potential investors should seek independent advice and consider relevant information contained in the base prospectus and the final terms for the ETPs, especially the risk factors. Diversification does not guarantee a profit or protect against a loss. ETPs issued by BEU are suitable only for persons experienced in investing in cryptocurrencies and risks of investing can be found in the prospectus and final terms available on www.bitwiseinvestments.com./eu. The invested capital is at risk, and losses up to the amount invested are possible. ETPs backed by cryptocurrencies are highly volatile assets and performance is unpredictable. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. The market price of ETPs will vary and they do not offer a fixed income or match precisely the performance of the underlying cryptocurrency.  Investing in ETPs involves numerous risks including general market risks relating to underlying, adverse price movements, currency, liquidity, operational, legal and regulatory risks. 

1 Source: NEAR Foundation
2 Source: Bitwise Europe Research; NEAR Foundation
3 Source: Artemis, Bitwise Europe; https://app.artemisanalytics.com/chains