NEAR tops $2 on AI, privacy upgrades

NEAR Protocol’s upgrade marks a significant leap in blockchain scalability and privacy, primarily through the introduction of Confidential Treasuries by Trezu, which enable private on-chain payroll and cross-chain payments, thereby enhancing financial confidentiality. Complementing this, the upcoming dynamic resharding capability will allow NEAR to scale beyond 70 shards, potentially eclipsing Visa’s transaction throughput and positioning the network as a powerhouse for high-volume, secure financial operations.

Privacy enhancements extend beyond financial transactions with NEAR AI’s automatic PII anonymization for AI prompts, a critical feature that safeguards user data during AI interactions on the network. This innovation underscores NEAR’s commitment to confidentiality, ensuring that sensitive information remains protected even as AI-driven applications proliferate across its ecosystem.

Co-founder Illia Polosukhin encapsulates the strategic vision behind these technological strides, emphasizing that the suite of upgrades—including confidential finance tools and AI privacy measures—solidifies NEAR’s role as a leading infrastructure for confidential finance and agentic AI applications. This positioning signals NEAR’s ambition to be at the forefront of integrating privacy and AI capabilities within the crypto space.

Throughout April and May 2026, NEAR Protocol’s price momentum was notably propelled by growing AI-token enthusiasm, sparking double-digit gains and heightened market interest. Early May saw NEAR break out from a consolidation phase between $1.25 and higher ranges, with key resistance levels at $1.8 and $1.86 emerging as focal points for traders eyeing sustained bullish momentum. This period marked a clear shift as speculative activity intensified, evidenced by trading volumes more than doubling alongside price rallies exceeding 10%.

By mid to late May, NEAR’s upward trajectory accelerated dramatically, driven by a convergence of fundamental upgrades—including a $68 million confidential treasury, AI privacy features, and auto-scaling enhancements—that catalyzed selective capital inflows despite broader market caution. This surge culminated in a remarkable 28% single-day price jump and a near 45% weekly gain, pushing NEAR’s token price above $2.15 and marking a 70% rally since early May. The rally was further fueled by a $60 million influx in new long positions and a spike in open interest surpassing $470 million, signaling robust speculative and derivatives market engagement.

The final phase of this momentum wave saw NEAR Protocol capitalize on AI-driven hype and anticipation of a resharding upgrade, propelling a 30% price surge within a single week. Traders identified critical entry and target levels at $1.82 and $2.32 respectively, underscoring strong speculative conviction and confidence in the protocol’s continued growth. This rapid ascent not only reflected the market’s responsiveness to technological advancements but also highlighted NEAR’s emerging status as a leading AI-integrated blockchain asset.

By May 20, 2026, NEAR Protocol witnessed a robust surge in investor confidence, marked by a substantial $60 million influx in new long positions that propelled the coin's price up by 11%. This wave of speculative interest was not isolated but supported by a convergence of fundamental, on-chain, and market structure factors, signaling a broader market acknowledgment of NEAR's growth potential and setting the stage for further gains.

Just two days later, on May 22, NEAR's rally intensified, soaring 28% following the unveiling of a $68 million confidential treasury alongside AI privacy and auto-scaling upgrades. This momentum was mirrored by a dramatic spike in open interest, which surged past $470 million, underscoring a significant escalation in speculative and derivatives trading activity. Amid a cautious broader crypto market, these selective capital inflows highlight a growing consensus among investors betting on NEAR's upgraded technical roadmap as a catalyst for sustained ecosystem expansion.

Michaël van de Poppe underscores NEAR Protocol's striking undervaluation relative to AI company IPOs, attributing this to its conservative $1 billion valuation despite robust revenue growth projections—from $10 million in 2025 to an estimated $70-100 million in 2026. He highlights NEAR’s multifaceted AI ecosystem, including AI agents and protocol interoperability features like Near Intents, as key drivers that make it a fundamentally sound investment with a conservative price-to-earnings ratio. This perspective positions NEAR not just as an undervalued crypto asset but as a strategic play in the evolving AI-crypto intersection.

Van de Poppe further situates NEAR within a broader context of AI-focused crypto protocols such as Bittensor, emphasizing their critical infrastructure roles and the importance of including them in diversified portfolios. He argues that the depressed valuations across these protocols stem more from the overall crypto market downturn than from any decline in their intrinsic performance or growth potential. This distinction suggests that NEAR’s current market price offers a compelling entry point for investors who believe in the long-term synergy between AI advancements and blockchain technology.

The recent breach of Bitcoin dominance below the critical 75,800 threshold marks a pivotal shift in the crypto landscape, signaling growing investor appetite for altcoins, particularly those linked to AI innovation. Projects like NEAR Protocol, Solana, Render, and Zcash have capitalized on this momentum, each posting impressive gains ranging from 10% to over 30%, underscoring a broader market rotation away from Bitcoin's traditional stronghold. This trend highlights how NEAR’s AI-driven upgrade is not an isolated event but part of a larger thematic surge where AI integration is becoming a key catalyst for altcoin performance.