DBi adds a stock sleeve to its futures model, and Bitwise lists a U.S. NEAR staking fund

iM Global Partner listed a stock add-on to a managed-futures model DBi, its sub-adviser, already runs, the iMGP DBi Absolute Return ETF, DBAR, on Wednesday, September 30. Bitwise listed a U.S. trust that holds NEAR tokens and stakes them, the Bitwise NEAR ETF, NRR, on Tuesday, September 29, using staking terms it already sells in Europe.

A stock sleeve on a model already listed

iM Global Partner says DBAR targets 100% managed-futures exposure and 30% U.S. stock exposure, which the firm counts as 130% in total. The stocks sit on top of the futures position rather than replacing any of it.

The futures sleeve uses the same model as the iMGP DBi Managed Futures Strategy ETF, BDBMF, which holds that strategy alone and held $5.4 billion as of Monday, October 5. The firm says the model tries to match, before fees, the returns of large hedge funds that trade futures, and that it has not changed since July 2016.

iM Global Partner's launch announcement says the sleeve uses ten futures markets and is rebalanced each week. The new fund's summary prospectus, dated Wednesday, September 30, says the sub-adviser runs the model at least monthly to rebalance.

Andrew Beer, a portfolio manager of the fund, said DBAR "keeps the managed futures exposure at a full 100% and adds equity, seeking to boost returns over time, especially in raging bull markets." The fund has no record yet, so that is a design claim, not a result.

Mathias Mamou-Mani, the other portfolio manager, said investors get the stock exposure "without additional drag" because the fee matches BDBMF. The management fee does match, at 0.85% in that fund's summary prospectus dated Thursday, April 30. DBAR's prospectus lists the same 0.85% management fee, plus 0.01% for fees inside other funds it holds, for 0.86% all in, and it lists no waiver.

The Return Stacked U.S. Stocks & Managed Futures ETF, CRSST, already lists a much larger stock stack. It targets one dollar of large-cap U.S. stocks and one dollar of managed futures for each dollar invested, more than three times DBAR's stock target. As of Monday it charged 0.99% and held $580 million, and it has traded since September 2023 on a futures model that is not DBi's.

A U.S. listing that keeps more of the rewards

Bitwise calls NRR the first U.S. spot NEAR exchange-traded product. It is not registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, and Bitwise says it lacks the protections of funds that are. Grayscale's Near Trust has traded over the counter since September 2025, so the new part is the exchange listing.

Bitwise describes NEAR as blockchain infrastructure built for an AI economy, and defines staking as locking tokens to help validate transactions in return for new ones.

The trust's job is the value of the NEAR it holds, minus expenses. The sponsor fee is 0.75% a year, and the trust intends to stake all of its tokens.

The prospectus assigns 33% of the extra NEAR from staking to staking expenses and about 67% to the trust. Bitwise's launch materials cited a network staking rate of 5.3% as of Friday, September 25. The extra tokens raise the value of each share rather than arriving as cash, and Bitwise says the rewards are not guaranteed.

That cut is larger than on two Bitwise staking funds already trading in the U.S. The Hyperliquid fund, BBHYP, which holds Hyperliquid tokens and stakes them, sets staking expenses at 25% of the extra tokens and the sponsor fee at 0.34% in the prospectus dated Thursday, May 14. The Avalanche fund, BBAVA, which holds Avalanche tokens and stakes them, sets staking expenses at 12% and the same 0.34% fee in its fact sheet dated Wednesday, April 15.

The 0.75% fee on NRR is more than twice the 0.34% on those funds.

Staking rewards can be taxable income for U.S. shareholders even when the trust pays no cash. The sponsor says that treatment is not certain.

Staking locks the tokens, and a normal unstaking takes about 48 hours, while the trust aims to settle redemptions in two business days. If free tokens run short, settlement can be delayed or redemptions paused.

Bitwise already uses this 33% cut in Europe, but that product is a German debt security, not the U.S. trust Bitwise treats as a grantor trust. It listed in July 2025 and charges 0.85% a year.

At that listing Bitwise put the expected net staking reward at 5.5%, and described the aim as about 5.5% after fees and the annual charge. Its factsheet dated Saturday, October 3 shows 3.01%, after the staking cut and before that 0.85% fee.

The European product held $111 million as of Thursday, October 1. NRR held $53 million as of Monday.

A proposal posted Wednesday, September 30 on NEAR's governance forum, still not approved, would lower maximum annual issuance from 2.5% to 1.6% over 24 months and keep the split that sends 90% of new tokens to stakers.

DBAR does not add a new futures strategy. It is the same model at the same management fee, with less stock than CRSST already offers.

NRR does add a U.S. exchange listing for NEAR, and the price of that access is a larger cut of the staking rewards, and a higher fee, than on the Hyperliquid and Avalanche funds Bitwise already runs.