TLDR
- NEAR price surged 50% in seven days, hitting six-month highs at $2.34.
- Arthur Hayes called NEAR part of the “holy trinity” of altcoins, boosting retail interest.
- Bitwise reported strong inflows into its NEAR exchange-traded product, signaling institutional demand.
- NEAR announced major upgrades covering AI integration, privacy, and dynamic resharding for scalability.
- A technical breakout from a multi-year falling wedge puts a potential target of $5.75 in focus.
NEAR Protocol has had a strong week. The token climbed 50% over seven days and hit a six-month high of $2.34 on Friday, with a 34% gain in just the last 24 hours alone. Trading volume jumped 190% to $1.15 billion in that same period, showing strong buyer activity.
The move triggered over $9.85 million in short liquidations, catching traders who had bet against the price off guard.
One of the loudest boosts came from prominent crypto investor Arthur Hayes. The BitMEX co-founder publicly described NEAR, HYPE, and ZEC as the “holy trinity” of altcoins. Coin Bureau noted on X that the endorsement alone pushed NEAR up around 30%.
🚨ARTHUR HAYES PUSHES $NEAR UP 30%
NEAR protocol surged 30% after BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes called it part of the “holy trinity” of altcoins.
The token traded near $2.23 as traders reacted to one of crypto’s loudest voices backing the move. pic.twitter.com/872E13tj64
— Coin Bureau (@coinbureau) May 22, 2026
Hayes is one of the most-followed voices in crypto, and his backing drew significant retail attention to the token in a short period of time.
Institutional and On-Chain Demand
Beyond the Hayes effect, there are signs of deeper demand building. Bitwise reported strong inflows into its NEAR exchange-traded product, pointing to growing institutional interest. On-chain analyst and former NEAR contributor Vadim Zacodil also highlighted the protocol’s buyback mechanisms as a factor supporting the token price.
NEAR co-founder Illia Polosukhin’s background in artificial intelligence has also helped put NEAR in the spotlight during the current AI token rally. Other AI-focused tokens including Grass, OpenServe, and Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET) all posted double-digit gains in the same 24-hour window.
The total market cap of AI and big data crypto tokens rose 8% to $21.44 billion in one day, reflecting a broader move into the sector.
Upcoming Upgrades and Technical Outlook
Nvidia’s strong Q1 2026 earnings — reporting roughly $81.6 billion in revenue and raising its 2027 outlook toward $1 trillion — added fuel to AI-related tokens broadly. Historically, Nvidia earnings have moved NEAR price, including a 58% spike in February following Q4 2025 results.
NEAR also has concrete technical developments on the roadmap. A June upgrade will expand network capacity through dynamic resharding technology. The protocol has also pushed further into privacy and confidential transactions, an area Vitalik Buterin has flagged as one of blockchain’s biggest unsolved problems.
MN Capital founder Michael van de Poppe noted on X that NEAR shows “one of the most bullish charts” in the market. He set near-term resistance at $2 and $2.25–$2.50, with the next target around $2.75. A clean break above the $2.60–$3.00 supply zone could open the path to the measured wedge target of $5.75.
One of the most bullish charts in the ecosystem: $NEAR.
Resilient despite the recent correction on the markets, price already rallies towards new highs.
As long as this stays above $1.40, I would assume that there’s continuation on the board.
I remain to be expecting a $2.00… pic.twitter.com/mFzn0L8ZkV
— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) May 19, 2026
BitMEX Research Analyst Shang Wu noted earlier this month that NEAR trades at around 56x annualized fees, cheaper than most major Layer 1 peers.
As of Friday, NEAR’s market cap stood at nearly $3 billion, up over 50% for the month.
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