A mix of catalysts helped send the NEAR token as much as 31% higher over the past 24 hours.
While NEAR gave some gains in recent hours — trading around $2.23 as of 12:25 p.m. ET — the token remained up more than 20% on the day. So why is NEAR rallying even as bitcoin has slipped in recent days? Some crypto researchers point to a combination of institutional interest, AI-related narratives and upcoming technical upgrades.
One of the token's most high-profile endorsements recently came from prominent crypto investor Arthur Hayes, who described NEAR, HYPE and ZEC as "the holy trinity" of altcoins.
Vadim Zacodil, a former contributor to the protocol who appears to operate a NEAR staking pool, attempted to explain the price move in a social media post on Friday. While acknowledging Hayes may have helped drive retail interest, Zacodil argued several factors are contributing to NEAR’s rise.
Among them, Bitwise recently reported "significant inflows" into its NEAR exchange-traded product, according to Zacodil, potentially signaling growing institutional demand. The onchain analyst also pointed to the protocol’s buyback mechanisms and NEAR co-founder Illia Polosukhin’s artificial intelligence background as helping to spotlight the token.
