NEAR Protocol Flips Stellar to Reclaim Top 20 Crypto Spot

NEAR Protocol ($NEAR) rose approximately 6% to $5.50 on Thursday, lifting its market capitalization to $7.18 billion and overtaking Stellar ($XLM) to reclaim a spot among the top 20 largest cryptocurrencies. The rally was accompanied by a surge in 24-hour trading volume to $1.26 billion, compared to Stellar's $177 million, according to CoinGecko data.

Rising Intents Volume and Institutional Support

The price increase coincides with growing activity on NEAR Intents, which has now processed over $33 billion in cumulative volume across 35 chains. This is up from the $30 billion reported earlier in the week. The protocol's revenue dashboard also showed Confidential Intents total value locked reaching $144.06 million, representing a 335.1% increase over the past 90 days.

The growth follows a recent security incident where NEAR Intents paused activity due to a $3.8 million exploit involving its Omni deposit and withdrawal system. Co-founder Illia Polosukhin confirmed the vulnerability was resolved and affected users would be compensated, noting the core NEAR blockchain was not compromised.

Additionally, Bitwise chief investment officer Matt Hougan highlighted NEAR's dual appeal, combining an active operating crypto business with long-term artificial intelligence ambitions. Bitwise recently launched the Bitwise NEAR ETF (NRR) on NYSE Arca on Sept. 29.

Technical Indicators and Resistance Levels

NEAR's daily Relative Strength Index (RSI) stood at 68.31, remaining just below the overbought threshold of 70. Analysts point to the $5.50 to $6.00 range as the primary resistance zone, where a clean breakout and retest could signal a broader trend reversal. If the price pulls back, initial support is expected between $4.00 and $4.60.

Key facts

• NEAR rose 6% to $5.50, pushing its market cap to $7.18 billion and flipping Stellar's $6.97 billion valuation.
• NEAR's 24-hour trading volume reached $1.26 billion, while XLM's volume stood at $177 million.
• Cumulative volume on NEAR Intents crossed $33 billion across 35 blockchains.
• Bitwise launched the first spot NEAR ETF in the U.S. on Sept. 29 under the ticker NRR.