The NEAR Protocol token is up 15% in the last 24 hours to $2.8, extending a month-long rally that has seen the price of NEAR double in the last month.
The move comes amid the success of NEAR Intents, the network’s cross-chain transaction system. The product allows users to request a desired outcome, such as exchanging USDC on Ethereum for SOL on Solana, while third-party solvers execute the transaction behind the scenes.
DefiLlama data shows that NEAR Intents has processed over $19 billion in cumulative volume and generated around $32 million in fees. The figures have drawn attention to the protocol after months of limited price movement.
The rally accelerated further after BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes described Hyperliquid’s NEAR, HYPE and ZEC as the “holy trinity” of cryptocurrencies in a social media post, before suggesting there is a “long way to go” in its rally.
NEAR gained around 30% as traders pivoted back to tokens linked to artificial intelligence and blockchain infrastructure at the beginning of the month, while institutional demand has been growing. The European-listed Bitwise NEAR Stake ETP has grown to approximately $40 million in assets under management, after seeing $7 million in inflows in a single week.
Investors are also keeping an eye on an upcoming network update in June that introduces dynamic sharding. The change is designed to automatically split network shards as demand increases, which could improve scalability during periods of heavy use.
Despite the recent rise, NEAR remains well below its 2022 high, near $20.
NEAR is a Layer 1 blockchain focused on applications, AI infrastructure, and cross-chain transactions. The network uses a proof-of-stake model and is marketed as a platform designed to simplify cross-blockchain interactions while handling large volumes of activity through sharding.
