It has traded within a range for seven months while Bitcoin made new all-time highs, showing relative weakness against the market leaders.
Over a decade or so, such a target might be feasible if partnerships with global AI leaders materialize and the blockchain shows long-term utility.
NEAR Protocol [NEAR] is the second-largest AI token in crypto, ranked by market capitalization. The $2.77 billion market cap token is a modular blockchain designed for AI to act on behalf of users.
The Layer-1 network uses the Nightshade sharding protocol to improve scalability and performance, and averages nearly 50 transactions per second, comparing favorably to Ethereum’s [ETH] 20 transactions a second.
In September 2024, the protocol announced a partnership with Delphi Labs to co-host an accelerator program “for high-potential projects at the intersection of AI and Web3.”
NEAR Protocol’s AI Incubation Program was also part of the NEAR Foundation’s vision of maximizing AI benefits for people and communities.
Despite the promising developments over the past year, the sentiment around the token itself has been lukewarm in 2025.
After rallying to $8.24 in December 2024, NEAR began to fall. It formed a bottom on the chart in April 2025.
Unlike some other altcoins, most prominently Ethereum and Solana [SOL], which began to trend upward in May, NEAR has been stuck in a range over the past seven months.
This range extended from $1.83 to $3.38, with the mid-point at $2.62. In recent days, the $2.62 level was tested as resistance before a 22% price drop commenced in 3 days.
The CMF was in neutral territory, and the RSI showed bearish momentum. Investors with conviction in NEAR can look to buy around the $1.8-$2 mark, and hope for a rally toward $8 in the coming months.
In case of a breakout beyond $3.4, investors should not hold on and wait for a magical round number target such as $50.
In the coming years, bullish developments and partnerships might make such a price target feasible. However, the next 3-6 months will likely not yield such a target.
Comparing the NEAR Protocol’s daily active users to the collective L1 blockchains, we see that the weekly average over the past three years has been 3 million daily active users.
Only the Binance Coin [BNB] Chain had more daily active users, according to Token Terminal data.
It was ranked 14th for the number of core developers, with Ethereum topping this chart. AI-focused dApps and AI agent growth on the network could make NEAR more appealing to AI investors.
Until then, remember that most altcoins bleed value against Bitcoin [BTC] over the long term. Do your own research, thoroughly, into any altcoin you intend to hold for multiple years. Only a few stand the test of time.
