NEAR Protocol [NEAR] became one of the first blockchains with a NIST-approved post-quantum signature scheme in production. The Layer 1 AI-native settlement layer announced this in a post on X on Monday, 20th July.
The upgrade has also launched dynamic resharding. This will allow the network to scale itself automatically. The chain also believes in agentic commerce and is now actively preparing for it.
NEAR is building an open, integrated stack for the agent economy. Within this system, NEAR Protocol intends to bring identity, liquidity, private inference, confidential execution, settlement, governance, and economics.
In fact, this announcement dates back to February 2026, marking a structural shift for the protocol amid an ongoing bear market. With pessimistic wider market sentiment, a bullish turnaround has been hard to enforce so far.
A potential rebound for NEAR ahead?
In the last 24 hours, the altcoin has posted losses of almost 3%, with its Open Interest sliding by 4.1% too. The daily trading volume saw a marginal uptick of 5.5%, but the short-term NEAR trend has been bearish.
Since forming a local high at $2.06 on Tuesday, 21st July, the token’s price has declined by 13.5%.
Analyst Ali Martinez noted that the TD Sequential indicator gave a buy signal for NEAR on the 4-hour chart. A sell signal on 21st July has been vindicated. Hence, the question – Will this buy signal be correct too?
Traders’ call to action – Wait to sell
The Fibonacci retracement levels (yellow) highlighted the NEAR rejection from $2.80-$3.00 as coming from the 78.6% retracement zone. This was in line with the higher timeframe bearish trend. The rally in May was only a retracement that has since begun to reverse itself.
For nearly two months, the bulls have defiantly held on to the $1.80-support zone. However, the CMF flashed signs of significant selling pressure, with the MACD underlining downward momentum too.
It could be a make-or-break moment for the buyers. A drop below $1.80 would signal a bearish trend continuation and could offer swing traders a chance to go short.
A price bounce beyond $2.10 is needed to instill temporary bullish confidence in NEAR.
Final Summary
- NEAR Protocol’s quantum-safe signing has gone live, with the TD Sequential offering up a buy signal.
- Bulls have been clinging to the $1.80-support zone, but the higher timeframe trend has been bearish.
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