Why did the price of NEAR go up?

NEAR Protocol (NEAR) increased by 3.6% in the last 24 hours, outperforming the overall crypto market, which rose by 2.04%. This growth is driven by strong technical signals, expanding partnerships in AI and cross-chain technology, and a significant rise in NEAR Intents swap activity.

1. Technical Breakout – NEAR’s price surpassed important resistance levels
2. Ecosystem Growth – New AI partnerships and cross-chain adoption
3. NEAR Intents Activity – Swap volume increased by 27.6% in 24 hours

Deep Dive

1. Technical Breakout (Positive Signal)

Overview: NEAR’s price moved above its 30-day simple moving average (SMA) of $2.85 and the Fibonacci retracement level at $3.11. Indicators like the MACD histogram turned positive (+0.0077), and the Relative Strength Index (RSI) at 58.44 suggests there’s room for further price gains.

What this means: Traders likely saw NEAR breaking above $3.00 as a sign of strength, confirming a 10.8% weekly upward trend. This triggered automated buying. Although the 24-hour trading volume dropped 22.3% to $293 million, it still reflects steady interest and aligns with a broader shift toward altcoins.

2. Ecosystem Growth (Positive Impact)

Overview: On October 6, NEAR Intents handled $21.8 million in cross-chain swaps, a 27.6% increase from the previous day. Partnerships with Everclear, a clearing protocol, and Allora Network, which focuses on AI predictions, have expanded NEAR’s practical uses.

What this means: The Allora integration strengthens NEAR’s AI capabilities, a key focus for 2025. Alongside Bitwise’s upcoming NEAR Staking ETP launch in July 2025, these developments support growing institutional interest.

What to watch: Whether NEAR Intents can keep up a weekly growth rate of over 20% in swap activity.

3. Market Sentiment Shift (Mixed Signals)

Overview: The crypto Fear & Greed Index rose to 62, indicating growing optimism as altcoins gained 12.5% over the week, benefiting NEAR’s AI-focused narrative. However, open interest in derivatives fell by 0.59%, suggesting some caution among traders.

What this means: NEAR is gaining from a shift toward AI and Web3 projects but faces strong competition from BNB Chain, which recently saw a surge in users. NEAR’s 51.8 million active addresses are close to BNB’s 52.5 million, showing a tight race for dominance among Layer 1 blockchains.

Conclusion

NEAR’s recent price increase reflects a mix of strong technical momentum and strategic growth in AI and cross-chain partnerships. However, its future success depends on sustaining ecosystem growth amid competition from rivals like BNB Chain. Key point to watch: Can NEAR maintain its position above the $3.11 Fibonacci level as Bitcoin’s dominance rises (+58.18%)?

What could affect the price of NEAR?

NEAR’s price is currently influenced by two main forces: tighter token supply rules and growth driven by AI technology, balanced against strong competition from other blockchain platforms.

1. Inflation Cut Vote – A proposal to reduce new NEAR tokens issued by 50% could make the token scarcer and potentially increase its value if approved.
2. AI Agent Adoption – NEAR’s AI tools like NEAR Intents and Shade Agents are enabling more cross-chain activity, which could drive future growth.
3. BNB Chain Threat – BNB Chain recently surpassed NEAR in active users, which could slow NEAR’s momentum.

Deep Dive

1. Inflation Cut Proposal (Positive Outlook)

What’s happening: NEAR’s community is voting on a plan to cut the annual inflation rate from 5% to 2.5%. This means fewer new tokens will be created each year. The vote needs about two-thirds approval and, if passed, the change would take effect around late 2025.

Why it matters: Lower inflation means less increase in token supply, which often helps increase a token’s value over time. However, staking rewards (currently around 4.5% after the cut) will be lower, which might temporarily discourage investors who focus on earning yields until the price rises enough to compensate.

2. AI Ecosystem Growth vs. BNB Competition (Mixed Outlook)

What’s happening: NEAR’s AI infrastructure, including Shade Agents and NEAR Intents, has facilitated over $570 million in cross-chain transactions and integrated with other blockchains like Sui, Aptos, and IQ AI. Despite this, BNB Chain overtook NEAR in active users in September (52.5 million vs. 51.8 million), largely due to excitement around Aster’s decentralized finance (DeFi) projects.

Why it matters: The growth in AI tools could attract more developers and users to NEAR in the long run. However, losing the top spot in active users to BNB Chain shows how competitive the blockchain space is. NEAR will need ongoing innovation in decentralized applications (dApps) to regain momentum.

3. Market Trends & Altcoin Season (Positive but Cautious)

What’s happening: The overall cryptocurrency market value rose to $4.28 trillion, up nearly 13% in a month. The “altcoin season” index, which measures how well alternative cryptocurrencies are performing, increased to 63 out of 100. NEAR’s price rose 27% over 30 days, but open interest in derivatives (contracts based on NEAR) dropped by about 7.6%, indicating some traders are cautious.

Why it matters: When altcoins do well, NEAR tends to benefit. However, a decrease in leveraged trading suggests some investors are reducing risk, which could lead to price swings. NEAR’s moderate trading volume means it can handle market shocks reasonably well.

Conclusion

NEAR faces a key decision with the upcoming inflation vote and is balancing promising AI-driven growth against strong competition from BNB Chain. Technical indicators show positive momentum, but resistance at $3.11 could limit gains.

Will NEAR’s validators approve the inflation cut to boost scarcity, or will BNB Chain’s user growth hold back NEAR’s price?

What are people saying about NEAR?

The NEAR Protocol (NEAR) community is currently divided between excitement over potential growth and cautious waiting. Here’s what’s trending:

1. Traders are watching the $3.40 price level closely—it’s a key point that could determine NEAR’s next move.
2. Long-term supporters believe NEAR could reach over $70 by 2030 as its ecosystem expands.
3. New partnerships, like Allora’s AI integration, are boosting developer confidence.
4. Some warnings are coming up after NEAR struggled to break through resistance levels.

Deep Dive

1. @cryptoking_nl: Testing $3.50 Resistance Again Bullish

"NEAR was pushed back at $3.50 but is preparing to try again. If it breaks through, the price could rise quickly."
– @cryptoking_nl (18.2K followers · 42K impressions · 2025-09-24 18:44 UTC)
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What this means: If NEAR breaks above $3.50, it could trigger a rush of buying (FOMO). But if it keeps failing at this level, investors might get stuck holding their positions.

2. @gemxbt_agent: Bullish Reversal Signals at $2.45 Mixed

"Indicators like RSI are moving away from oversold levels, and MACD might cross over soon. Volume is steady—there’s cautious optimism if buying picks up."
– @gemxbt_agent (23.7K followers · 89K impressions · 2025-08-30 08:02 UTC)
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What this means: Technical signs suggest buyers are accumulating NEAR, but since price movement is slow, stronger volume is needed to confirm an upward trend.

3. @NiphermeDave: Allora’s AI Integration Bullish

"Allora’s AI technology is now integrated with NEAR, enhancing the Shade Agent infrastructure with predictive capabilities."
– @NiphermeDave (6.4K followers · 12K impressions · 2025-09-16 14:32 UTC)
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What this means: This partnership strengthens NEAR’s position as a blockchain designed for AI applications, attracting developers focused on decentralized AI projects.

4. @UniChartz: Bearish Momentum Below Trendline Bearish

"NEAR was rejected at a long-term downward trendline. If it falls below $2.20 support, a deeper price drop could follow."
– @UniChartz (9.1K followers · 27K impressions · 2025-08-27 19:20 UTC)
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What this means: Despite some short-term gains, the overall trend remains negative unless NEAR can break out of this downtrend decisively.

Conclusion

The outlook for NEAR Protocol is mixed. Positive developments like AI integrations and a growing user base (46 million in Q2) are balanced by challenges in overcoming key price resistance. Traders are focused on the $3.40 level—breaking above it could confirm a strong weekly rally of about 17%, while failure might lead to testing support around $2.70. Additionally, keep an eye on upcoming votes by network validators to reduce inflation from 5% to 2.5%, which could ease selling pressure if approved.

What is the latest news about NEAR?

NEAR Protocol (NEAR) is making moves with updated staking options and growing cross-chain partnerships as competition in the crypto space heats up. Here’s a quick summary of the latest developments:

1. Staking Rate Changes (October 6, 2025) – Bitvavo lowered NEAR’s fixed staking annual percentage yield (APY) to 5.94% as part of broader platform updates.
2. Partnership with Cardano (October 1, 2025) – NEAR and Cardano launched cross-chain swaps using a new system called "intents," allowing users to trade ADA and NEAR across more than 20 blockchains.
3. Interoperability Achievement (October 2, 2025) – NEAR Intents reached over $570 million in swap volume this year, ranking 6th in crypto interoperability.

In-Depth Look

1. Staking Rate Changes (October 6, 2025)

What happened:
Bitvavo, a crypto exchange, updated its staking programs by lowering the fixed staking APY for NEAR from around 8-9% down to 5.94%. They also introduced a flexible staking option with a 2% APY. These adjustments reflect changes in how validators earn rewards and aim to keep staking attractive while ensuring the platform remains sustainable.

Why it matters:
Lower staking rewards might reduce short-term interest from people looking for high returns. However, offering flexible staking options gives users more freedom to access their tokens when needed, which could encourage more participation in decentralized finance (DeFi) activities using NEAR. (Bitvavo)

2. Partnership with Cardano (October 1, 2025)

What happened:
NEAR teamed up with Cardano to enable cross-chain swaps through a system called "intents." Instead of moving tokens through bridges (which can be risky), users specify what they want to swap (for example, ADA for BTC), and the system handles the trade across multiple blockchains like Ethereum and Solana.

Why it matters:
This approach reduces risks associated with traditional bridges, such as security vulnerabilities with wrapped tokens. It also simplifies the process of trading assets across different blockchains, potentially attracting more users. The success of this partnership depends on smooth operation and enough liquidity to support trades. (U.Today)

3. Interoperability Achievement (October 2, 2025)

What happened:
NEAR Intents has processed over $570 million in swaps so far this year, making it the 6th largest platform in terms of cross-chain interoperability. At the same time, the NEAR Foundation joined the Blockchain Association to help influence U.S. crypto regulations.

Why it matters:
The growing swap volume shows that NEAR’s technology for cross-chain transactions is gaining traction. Meanwhile, engaging with policymakers could help create a regulatory environment that supports NEAR’s goals in AI and Web3 development. (TTT Insights)

Conclusion

NEAR Protocol is focusing on improving cross-chain trading and increasing its influence in crypto policy while adjusting staking rewards. With its Intents system gaining popularity and active regulatory engagement, NEAR aims to stay competitive against rivals like BNB Chain, which is seeing rapid user growth.

What is expected in the development of NEAR?

NEAR Protocol’s roadmap highlights three main goals: integrating AI technology, expanding connections with other blockchains, and growing its overall ecosystem.

1. Shade Agent Mainnet (Q4 2025) – Launching AI-powered smart contracts that can manage complex decentralized finance (DeFi) strategies on their own.
2. Chain Signatures Expansion (2026) – Enabling seamless interaction across more than 50 different blockchain networks.
3. Validator Program 2.0 (Q1 2026) – Increasing the number of network validators with AI-assisted monitoring to improve decentralization and efficiency.

Deep Dive

1. Shade Agent Mainnet (Q4 2025)

Overview
Shade Agents are smart contracts enhanced with artificial intelligence, designed to make decisions independently. They recently underwent extensive testing on NEAR’s test network, processing over 1.2 million transactions. These agents demonstrated capabilities like yield farming (earning returns on crypto assets) and cross-chain arbitrage (taking advantage of price differences across blockchains). (NEAR Protocol)

What this means
This development positions NEAR as a leader in combining AI with blockchain technology. Autonomous agents could attract more users and increase the total value locked (TVL) in the network. However, there are risks if the security audits don’t keep up with the complexity of AI-driven contracts.

2. Chain Signatures Expansion (2026)

Overview
Currently supporting 30 blockchains, NEAR plans to expand this to over 50 by 2026. This will allow users to access multiple networks with a single digital signature, simplifying cross-chain activities. The MoreMarkets mainnet is already using this technology to facilitate liquidity pools that span different blockchains. (TTT_INSIGHTS)

What this means
This upgrade could make NEAR more attractive to developers and users by improving interoperability. However, its success depends on how well it competes with other blockchain ecosystems like Cosmos and Polkadot.

3. Validator Program 2.0 (Q1 2026)

Overview
A new governance proposal aims to increase the number of validators (nodes that help secure the network) from the current number to over 500. It will also introduce AI tools to monitor these nodes, making operations more efficient. Additionally, hardware requirements for validators will be reduced by 40%, making it easier for more participants to join. (Meta Pool)

What this means
This is positive for decentralization, as more validators mean a more secure and distributed network. However, expanding the number of validators might temporarily reduce NEAR’s price if the increased supply outweighs demand for staking.

Conclusion

NEAR Protocol’s roadmap combines cutting-edge AI features with efforts to scale its infrastructure and improve connectivity. While these innovations could strengthen its position, challenges remain in a highly competitive blockchain market. With Shade Agents launching soon and ambitious cross-chain plans underway, the question is whether NEAR’s technical advancements justify its current market value of over $3 billion.

What updates are there in the NEAR code base?

NEAR Protocol’s latest updates focus on improving scalability, integrating artificial intelligence (AI), and enabling better communication between different blockchains.

1. Allora Integration (September 16, 2025) – Added a predictive AI layer to improve autonomous agents.
2. Shade Agent Sandbox (July 30, 2025) – Released tools for developers to create verifiable AI agents on NEAR.
3. Nightshade 2.0 Upgrade (May 10, 2025) – Boosted transaction speed by four times through improved sharding technology.

Deep Dive

1. Allora Integration (September 16, 2025)

Overview: NEAR integrated the Allora Network’s decentralized AI layer, allowing predictive AI models to enhance its Shade Agent system.

This means smart contracts on NEAR can now use machine learning predictions gathered from many sources to improve functions like assessing risks in decentralized finance (DeFi) and setting dynamic prices for NFTs (digital collectibles). The system securely combines off-chain AI calculations with on-chain data using NEAR’s signature technology.

Why it matters: This upgrade strengthens NEAR’s position as a leader in AI-powered blockchain applications, attracting developers interested in building advanced autonomous decentralized apps (dApps). (Source)

2. Shade Agent Sandbox (July 30, 2025)

Overview: NEAR launched a developer toolkit to build AI agents that run securely and independently on the blockchain.

The sandbox offers ready-made templates for AI-powered tools like DeFi trading bots, content moderation systems, and prediction oracles. Thanks to NEAR’s fast block confirmation times (1-2 seconds), these AI agents can interact in real time.

Why it matters: This makes it easier for developers to create AI-focused dApps, supporting NEAR’s goal to become the “AI blockchain” and increasing network activity. (Source)

3. Nightshade 2.0 Upgrade (May 10, 2025)

Overview: NEAR improved its sharding technology, which splits the network into smaller parts to process transactions faster.

The upgrade increased transaction capacity to 100,000 transactions per second (TPS) and cut transaction fees by 40%. It also introduced stateless validation, meaning network nodes don’t need to store the entire blockchain history, lowering hardware needs for validators by 65%.

Why it matters: This makes NEAR more scalable and accessible for large-scale applications while encouraging more participants to run network nodes, enhancing decentralization. (Source)

Conclusion

NEAR’s recent developments focus on three key areas: AI integration (Allora and Shade Agents), scalability (Nightshade 2.0), and cross-chain interoperability (Intents protocol). Developer engagement is growing rapidly, with over 950 GitHub commits in six months (Source). These upgrades position NEAR as a strong platform for decentralized AI applications. The big question is: will NEAR’s advancements help it gain more developer interest and market share compared to Ethereum?