Grayscale Files S-1 for NEAR ETF as $45B Daily Volume Puts NEAR Back on Institutional Radar

Key Takeaways:

• Grayscale submitted an S-1 to SEC to transform its Near Trust into a spot NEAR ETF on NYSE Arca.
• The proposed ETF is GSNR and will track NEAR spot and could have staking rewards subject to approval.
• The filing is also the momentum to a rising tide of separate-asset crypto ETF filings not involving Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Grayscale has submitted an S-1 registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, seeking approval to convert its existing Grayscale Near Trust into a spot exchange-traded fund. The move would give public-market investors direct price exposure to NEAR through a regulated ETF structure.

The filing positions NEAR as one of the next layer-1 assets competing for institutional capital via traditional market rails.

Read More: Grayscale Files S-1 for Bittensor ETF, Targeting $3B TAO Market and Decentralized AI Boom

Grayscale Moves NEAR Trust Toward an ETF Structure

According to the prospectus, the Grayscale Near Trust will be renamed Grayscale Near Trust ETF upon effectiveness of the registration statement. The fund is expected to list on NYSE Arca under the ticker GSNR, subject to regulatory approval.

The Trust was originally formed in November 2021 and currently operates as a passive investment vehicle holding NEAR tokens. Its stated objective remains simple: reflect the value of NEAR held by the Trust, minus fees and liabilities, without leverage or derivatives.

Grayscale emphasized that the ETF will not attempt to outperform NEAR. Instead, it will track spot pricing using a CoinDesk reference rate, with plans to transition to the CoinDesk NEAR CCIXber Reference Rate before listing.

This mirrors the structure used across Grayscale’s other spot crypto products, reinforcing a standardized ETF playbook.

Read More: Grayscale’s GSUI Debuts on OTCQX, Opening Broad Market Access to Sui’s High-Speed Blockchain

How the NEAR ETF Is Designed to Work

The Trust plans to issue and redeem shares in blocks of 10,000, known as Baskets. Authorized Participants will create or redeem these Baskets either in-kind using NEAR or via cash orders facilitated by liquidity providers.

NEAR’s Market Profile in Focus

The filing by Grayscale reflects on the market metrics of NEAR to support the viability of the ETF. The current NEAR was issued in the form of protocol emission, with a total of 1.284 billion NEAR in circulation on December 31, 2025, out of 1 billion of the first release.

At that time:

• NEAR recorded roughly $45 billion in 24-hour trading volume
• Market capitalization stood near $1.9 billion
• NEAR ranked 39th globally by market cap

Although not large in comparison with the leading assets, NEAR has a strong liquidity profile that could support institutional products, which is one of the factors that ETFs are approved.

NEAR Joins a Growing Lineup of Altcoin ETF Filings

The NEAR ETF proposal has been introduced at a time when crypto ETF filings have proliferated to other assets other than Bitcoin and Ethereum. Grayscale also recently registered trusts associated with other layer-1 and DeFi-oriented tokens, which indicates wider ambitions.

Analysts observe that the reaction of SEC towards non-BTC ETFs will depend on the market monitoring, custody requirements and liquidity profundity. The fact that NEAR is in this wave implies that issuers are of the opinion that the window of regulation may be widening.

In the case of Grayscale, the conversion of trusts into ETFs is also a solution to a long-standing problem, namely, the systematic premiums and discounts in products that are traded over the counter.

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