NEAR Price Hits $7 After Almost 2 Years Cashing in on AI Hype
Will NEAR Increase Lead to New All-Time High? Credit: Hameem Sarwar
Key Takeaways
- NEAR Protocol has been the best-performing large cap AI protocol in the past seven days.
- It is the blockchain with the second highest number of transactions in February, trailing only Solana.
- Will the NEAR price increase continue above $10 and toward a new all-time high price?
The NEAR price has been on a tear since the start of February, increasing by 160% and culminating with a high of $7.51 today. This was the highest price since May 2022.
Because of the significant increase, lack of overhead resistance and positive upcoming developments, investors are pondering if this is the upward movement that will take NEAR to a new all-time high.
What’s Behind the NEAR Price Increase?
The NEAR price has increased since October 2023. After a near 30-day correction that started in December, NEAR resumed its upward movement at a quicker pace in January 2024, moving above the long-term $3.40 horizontal resistance area.
Assuming the current weekly close is positive, NEAR will have created six consecutive bullish candlesticks. This has not happened since July 2021.
The NEAR price trades slightly above the $7 horizontal resistance area, a critical level that has intermittently acted as both support and resistance since the start of 2021.
The weekly Relative Strength Index (RSI) supports the increase since it is trending upward. Even though the indicator is in overbought territory, it has not generated any bearish divergence that will warn of an impending decrease.
Another potential reason for the increase is the interest in the blockchain, as evidenced by the number of monthly transactions. In February, NEAR had 130 million transactions, surpassing TRON for the number 3 spot and only trailing Solana.
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Finally, NEAR Protocol’s CEO Illia Polosukhin is one of the panelists in the “Conference for the Era of AI” organized by NVIDIA.
NEAR Benefits From AI Hype
The conference is not NEAR Protocol’s first foray into the world of AI. In November 2023, the NEAR Foundation announced the release of NEAR Tasks , a global marketplace that aims to reshape AI training by leveraging NEAR’s Blockchain Operating System , allowing users to earn NEAR through simple tasks.
As a result, there is a correlation between the NEAR price (white) and other AI protocols such as Ocean Protocol (yellow), Render (blue) and The Graph (purple).
Interestingly, it was the increase in NVIDIA (orange) which catalyzed the entire AI token boom. NVIDIA is the largest GPU company in the World and a leader in Artificial Intelligence Computing.
While NEAR lagged behind the others until February 21, its rapid increase caused it to overtake NVIDIA. In the past 7 days, NEAR has enjoyed the biggest increase out of the top 50 AI protocols.
Can NEAR Reach New All-Time High?
The shorter-term daily time frame supports the continuing of the increase. There are positive readings coming from the wave count, RSI and MACD.
The wave count shows an extended wave three (black), which is already longer than wave one. The sub-wave count is given in white. Wave three often extends to 1.61 or 2.61 times the length of wave one.
Due to the sub-wave count, it is likely that wave three will reach the 2.61 length of wave one, targeting $12.50, an increase of 70% from the current price. Alternatively, the 1.61 length is at $8.65, 18% above the current NEAR price.
Neither the RSI nor the MACD show any signs of weakness. In fact, the momentum in the MACD is still increasing (green icon). This is a sign that bodes well for the future trend.
Another positive reading comes from the Total Value Locked, Price and Revenue of the NEAR blockchain. In 2024, all three have increased in unison, a sign of a healthy price increase supported by increased activity in the market. This also affirms the increased number of monthly transactions.
NEAR Increase Supported by Several Factors
The ongoing NEAR price increase is supported by several positive factors, namely the increased number of transactions, increased activity on the blockchain and positive fallout from the increase in AI interest. Moreover, the price action and indicator readings support the possibility of more upside. While NEAR faces an obstacle in the form of a long-term resistance, it is well positioned to continue increasing in the near future and approach its all-time high.
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