NEAR ETF Shocker: Wall Street’s Wild New Crypto Darling Has Suitors Lining Up!

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  • Bitwise’s NEAR ETF filing: Institutional types circle altcoins like seagulls eyeing a sandwich. 🕴️🚀
  • Near Protocol claims to have solved the blockchain crossword puzzle: scalability, security, AND decentralization (next up, cold fusion and finding my missing left sock).

Bitwise, renowned for flinging crypto-flavored ETFs at the SEC’s increasingly bewildered staff, has made a move that has all the makings of a jolly good wheeze. The chaps have lobbed an S-1 registration for a NEAR Protocol [NEAR] ETF at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. One can only imagine the tea spilled in the boardroom when that landed on the agenda.

Should the mighty regulators acquiesce, the fund shall track NEAR’s price, offering investors not only “regulated access” but, dare I say, the right to brag at parties about riding the next crypto comet.

Such a pivotal development is positively bursting with bullish overtones. Near Protocol might soon find its name engraved amongst the greats: more demand, more visibility, and possibly, more awkward family “investment advice” dinners.

NEAR Elbows into the ETF Queue — An Unruly Scramble

This Bitwise S-1 for a NEAR ETF, following the classic Delaware filing (where, one assumes, paperwork multiplies like rabbits), is a fresh sortie in the crypto ETF arms race. Next up: a 19b-4 form, which sounds like a droid from Star Wars, but is actually the SEC’s version of a snazzy invite to dance on NYSE Arca.

The regulator’s 2025 dance card is packed to the rafters: spot crypto ETF proposals are raining down, featuring crowd-pleasers like Solana [SOL], Ripple [XRP], Cardano [ADA], and the ever-whimsical Dogecoin [DOGE]. Even Litecoin [LTC] has elbowed its way in, courtesy of Canary Capital—because apparently everyone wants in on this ETF cotillion.

Bitwise, for its part, is collecting ETF proposals like my Aunt Agatha collects feral cats. DOGE, SOL, XRP? Filed! Even manages spot Bitcoin [BTC] and Ethereum [ETH] funds, with a cool $2.35 billion in inflows—enough to buy several small tropical islands and a matching set of monocles for the team.

Will NEAR’s Price Finally Get Out of Bed? Prognosis & Prognostication

Yet with all this hullabaloo, NEAR Protocol is shuffling about at $2.30, suffering a slight and undramatic 0.90% dip in the last 24 hours—about as thrilling as my last attempt at making soufflé (it deflated).

Short-term price action: tepid. Long-term narrative: still the stuff of fireside tales. NEAR’s claim to fame has always been the holy trinity of decentralization, scalability, and security—ambitious, yes, but so is my diet, and look where that lands me every Christmas.

Meanwhile, with regulatory types led by Paul Atkins pushing for a clearer crypto playbook, perhaps NEAR’s big break isn’t a matter of if, but when. A bit more SEC leniency, and who knows? The boundaries of blockchain innovation could be pushed so far they need a postcard to stay in touch. 📈🥳

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2025-05-07 14:52