NEAR Protocol’s native token surged approximately 50% over the past seven days, reaching $2.34-a six-month high. The move positions NEAR at the forefront of a broader rally among AI-themed cryptocurrency tokens.
Trading volumes peaked above $1 billion during the surge, with short liquidations exceeding $9 million.
Positive sentiment surrounding Nvidia’s revenue outlook fueled enthusiasm across AI-adjacent tokens. FET and WLD also posted double-digit gains, but NEAR outpaced them all.
BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes named NEAR as part of his “holy trinity” of altcoins, alongside HYPE and ZEC.
The upcoming v2.13 network upgrade, scheduled for June 2026, will introduce dynamic resharding-allowing the network to automatically scale by adding or removing shards based on demand. The upgrade also includes post-quantum cryptographic features to protect against the theoretical threat of quantum computers.
NEAR is rolling out tools for AI-related transactions, including confidential treasuries-private vaults for AI agents managing funds-and privacy features built around AI prompts.
The cumulative 90-day gain for NEAR sits at approximately 115%. Inflows into related investment products like the Bitwise Near Staking ETP have increased as the token moved higher.
Market observers note potential resistance levels in the $3 to $5 range if current momentum continues, representing another 28% to 114% upside from $2.34.