NEAR Protocol's token has broken into the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, overtaking Stellar after a 138% rally over the past 30 days. The surge follows a resolved $3.8 million exploit on its NEAR Intents platform and the launch of the first US spot NEAR ETF.
NEAR Protocol's native token climbed into the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization on Thursday, after rising 138% in the past 30 days, according to CoinGecko. NEAR traded around $5.51, up about 7% over 24 hours, with a market cap near $7.2 billion and 24-hour volume reaching roughly $1.2 billion. That pushed it ahead of Stellar, which sat near $6.97 billion, a gap of roughly $200 million.
NEAR Intents volume tops $31 billion
The rally tracks rising activity on NEAR Intents, a cross-chain trading protocol that has handled over $31 billion in cumulative transaction volume, according to the NEAR Intents Explorer. NEAR Intents lets users request cross-chain transactions while outside market makers, called solvers, compete to execute them. The rise also follows the Sept. 29 launch of the first US spot exchange-traded product tracking the token, the Bitwise fund trading on NYSE Arca under ticker NRR.
NEAR Intents suffered a $3.8 million exploit involving its deposit and withdrawal infrastructure last week. On Oct. 2, General Manager Alex Shevchenko said all stolen funds had been returned, a day after the breach was disclosed.
Bitwise points to NEAR's business and AI plans
Bitwise chief investment officer Matt Hougan has drawn attention to NEAR while discussing smaller crypto assets with existing activity alongside longer-term growth ideas. In an Oct. 8 post, according to Matt Hougan: "the business is already here, and the dream is big and bold," pointing to NEAR Intents and the project's AI infrastructure plans.
NEAR remains well below its record high of $20.44, even after recovering sharply from levels below $4 seen in September. Daily momentum has cooled too: the Relative Strength Index stood near 68, below the conventional overbought threshold of 70.
Sources: Cointelegraph.com News, crypto.news
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