Hassan Maishera
TL;DR
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NEAR is up 13% in the last 24 hours, outperforming the broader crypto market.
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The coin could extend its rally towards $3.0 in the near term.
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) continued its strong upward momentum on Tuesday, climbing 13% and extending its impressive rally of nearly 80% since May.
The move comes even as the broader cryptocurrency market remains under pressure, with Bitcoin (BTC) retreating below the $70,000 level.
Growing retail participation and rising derivatives activity are helping fuel optimism that NEAR could soon challenge the key $3.00 price level.
Retail Demand Remains Strong Despite Market Risk-Off Sentiment
While the wider crypto market has experienced more than $700 million in liquidations over the past 24 hours, trader appetite for NEAR remains resilient.
According to CoinGlass data, futures Open Interest (OI) in NEAR has jumped approximately 16% over the same period, reaching $658.47 million.
The increase suggests traders are actively building leveraged positions and maintaining a bullish outlook despite broader market uncertainty.
Supporting this view, funding rates remain positive at 0.0088%, indicating that long-position holders are willing to pay a premium to maintain exposure in anticipation of further gains.
The combination of rising Open Interest and positive funding rates points to sustained confidence among traders betting on continued upside.
A major catalyst behind the growing interest in NEAR is the increasing adoption of NEAR Intents, the protocol’s chain-abstraction and multichain interoperability framework.
The system enables users to compare prices and execute transactions across multiple blockchains while allowing developers to integrate cross-chain functionality more easily. According to Grayscale, NEAR Intents functions similarly to an AI-powered transaction layer and has processed more than 25 million swaps worth nearly $20 billion since launching in the first quarter of 2025.
Data from Dune Analytics shows daily trading volume on NEAR Intents reached a 30-day high of $133.6 million on May 31. Activity was primarily driven by Tether’s USDT stablecoin, Bitcoin, and Ethereum (ETH) transactions.
Investor attention is also turning toward NEAR Protocol’s upcoming Version 2.13 upgrade, expected in June 2026.
The update is set to introduce dynamic resharding capabilities and a post-quantum-safe signing scheme, improvements designed to enhance scalability, network efficiency, and long-term security.
These developments could strengthen the protocol’s appeal among both developers and retail investors.
Technical Analysis: NEAR Targets a Break Above $3
The NEAR/USD 4-hour chart is bullish and efficient thanks to its recent rally. The token has staged a sharp V-shaped recovery following last week’s pullback and continues to trade comfortably above its 50-day, 100-day, and 200-day Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs).
Momentum indicators also remain supportive, although signs of overheating are beginning to emerge.
The Relative Strength Index (RSI) currently sits at 64, placing it in the bullish territory and highlighting strong buying momentum.
Meanwhile, the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator has rebounded from its signal line and continues to rise in positive territory, suggesting buyers remain in control.
NEAR is currently testing the 78.6% Fibonacci retracement level at $2.68, calculated from the decline between $3.18 and $0.84.
A decisive close above this level could pave the way for a move toward the psychologically important $3.00 mark, followed by a retest of the November 8 high at $3.18.
However, if the bullish trend ends, initial support is located at the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level near $2.28. If selling pressure increases, the next significant support zone lies around $2.01, corresponding with the 50% retracement level.
