NEAR Protocol Price Breaks Multi-Year Bearish Trend Amid Rising AI Narrative—How High Can it Go?

After remaining trapped within a prolonged bearish structure, the NEAR Protocol price has stayed elevated since rebounding from lows near $0.95 in February. Following a sustained ascending trend, the token has now broken above the interim resistance at $1.90 and, more importantly, the multi-year descending trendline. NEAR has surged over 20% in the past 24 hours to trade around $2.10, while trading volume has nearly doubled.

The latest weekly breakout attempt is now testing this macro resistance for the first time since the 2024 cycle top. The move comes as the AI narrative regains traction, open interest climbs, and ecosystem activity improves—but can NEAR sustain the breakout and rally toward the next major resistance zone?

NEAR Price Breaks Out of Multi-Year Bearish Structure

The NEAR price has remained trapped inside a bearish descending parallel channel since December 2024. The recent breakout has helped the price break this bearish structure, elevating the price to $2.17 for the first time this year. The bulls seem to have been dominating the rally, and hence, the price is believed to maintain a strong ascending trend and reach the upper resistance zone around $3.25. 

As seen in the above chart, the price has remained elevated as it is attempting its first meaningful breakout above the upper trendline. The breakout in the weekly timeframes is more significant, as it reflects the potential price action in the long term. Meanwhile, the Supertrend has flipped bullish after a prolonged bearish phase. Historically, these flips often mark early-stage trend reversals rather than relief rallies. 

Besides, the Open interest is marking fresh highs of over $473 million, suggesting fresh capital entering the platform as traders are aggressively positioning long trades. However, the price remains below the crucial resistance zone between $2.80 and $3.25, and breaking above this range may offer a breakout confirmation. 

NEAR Network Activity Drops Sharply Despite Price Recovery

While NEAR Protocol’s price structure is beginning to improve, on-chain activity presents a completely different picture. The latest Token Terminal data shows daily active users on the network have collapsed from nearly 3 million earlier this year to roughly 266,000 currently. The decline became especially aggressive after April, when user activity fell sharply and has since remained suppressed despite the recent price recovery.

This creates a major divergence between price action and network participation. NEAR’s latest rally appears to be driven more by market positioning, AI speculation, and derivative activity than by a meaningful recovery in network usage. However, if the AI narrative continues to strengthen, user growth could eventually follow the price action with a delay. 

What’s Next for NEAR Price?

NEAR Protocol is attempting to transition from a prolonged bearish phase into a fresh macro uptrend after breaking above a multi-year descending structure. However, the rally still faces a crucial resistance zone between $2.80 and $3.25. A strong weekly close above this range could confirm the breakout and push the price toward higher targets at $4.50, followed by $6 and potentially $8 in the coming months.

On the downside, losing support at $2.20 may weaken bullish momentum and trigger a pullback toward $1.80 or even $1.50. While momentum indicators and open interest remain supportive, weakening network activity suggests the rally is still largely narrative-driven. The next few weekly closes could therefore play a major role in determining whether NEAR confirms a true macro reversal or faces another rejection.