NEAR Protocol

would

2024

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 <p style="margin: 0 0 10px; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 1.5px; text-transform: uppercase; color: #1c3d6e; font-weight: bold;">HIGHLIGHTS</p>
 <ul style="margin: 0; padding-left: 20px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6; color: #1a2433;">
  <li>NEAR has gained almost half its value in a week and has more than tripled since January.</li>
  <li>Open interest in NEAR futures has reached the highest level in nearly three years of CoinGlass data.</li>
  <li>NYSE Arca has approved the listing of Bitwise’s staked NEAR ETF, which will trade as NRR.</li>
  <li>Bitwise’s own 2030 scenarios range from a bear case far below today’s price to a base case roughly 30 times higher.</li>
 </ul>
</div>
<p>NEAR Protocol traded at $5.24 on Sunday, up 48% over seven days and close to 247% year to date, after NYSE Arca approved the listing application for Bitwise’s spot NEAR ETF on September 24, the same day Bitwise submitted a <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0002067111/000121390026102877/ea0306493-8a12b_bitwise.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Form 8-A filing</a> registering the shares for trading on the exchange. Leverage has flooded in behind the rally. Open interest in NEAR futures reached $1.56 billion early on September 27, <a href="https://www.coinglass.com/currencies/NEAR" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">according to CoinGlass</a>, the highest reading on a chart that reaches back to late 2023.</p>
<h2 id="futures-traders-added-about-100-million-near-in-contracts-in-under-two-weeks">Futures traders added about 100 million NEAR in contracts in under two weeks</h2>
<p>Open interest measures the total value of futures and perpetual contracts still open across exchanges. Every contract has a buyer and a seller, so the number shows how much capital sits in leveraged bets on the token without showing whether longs or shorts dominate.</p>
<figure style="width: 100%" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img src="https://ethnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/near-protocol-27-sept-open-interest.jpg" alt="NEAR futures open interest rising to a multi-year high alongside price" width="1280" height="466">
 <figcaption>
  NEAR open interest vs. price. Source: CoinGlass
 </figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The $1.56 billion reading compares with a market capitalization of $6.85 billion. Outstanding derivatives exposure therefore equals roughly 23% of the token’s entire value, and it also exceeds the $1.31 billion in 24-hour trading volume <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/near-protocol/" rel="noopener noreferrer">CoinMarketCap records</a> across exchanges.</p>
<p>Some of the jump is pure arithmetic. When the price doubles, every open contract doubles in dollar terms even if nobody trades. The CoinGlass data shows real new positioning on top of that. In mid-September, with NEAR near $2.35, <a href="https://ethnews.com/near-price-eyes-breakout-open-interest-hits-yearly-high/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">open interest hovered around $500 million</a>, or roughly 213 million NEAR in contract terms. Sunday’s $1.56 billion at a price of $5.04 works out to about 310 million NEAR.</p>
<p>That is close to 100 million tokens of fresh exposure in less than two weeks.</p>
<div style="background: linear-gradient(135deg,#0b1f3a 0%,#16325c 100%); border-radius: 12px; padding: 22px 20px; margin: 28px 0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; color: #ffffff;">
 <p style="margin: 0 0 4px; font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold;">NEAR open interest at each major peak</p>
 <p style="margin: 0 0 20px; font-size: 13px; color: #a9bdd8;">Bar length scaled to open interest. NEAR price at the time shown on the right.</p>
 <div style="margin-bottom: 16px;">
  <div style="display: flex; justify-content: space-between; flex-wrap: wrap; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
   March 2024<span style="color: #a9bdd8;">NEAR ~$8.90</span>
  </div>
  <div style="background: rgba(255,255,255,0.08); border-radius: 20px; height: 26px; overflow: hidden;">
   <div style="width: 29%; height: 100%; background: linear-gradient(90deg,#3a8dde,#5fb4ff); border-radius: 20px; display: flex; align-items: center; padding-left: 10px; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; box-sizing: border-box;">
    ~$460M
   </div>
  </div>
 </div>
 <div style="margin-bottom: 16px;">
  <div style="display: flex; justify-content: space-between; flex-wrap: wrap; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
   December 2024<span style="color: #a9bdd8;">NEAR ~$8.00</span>
  </div>
  <div style="background: rgba(255,255,255,0.08); border-radius: 20px; height: 26px; overflow: hidden;">
   <div style="width: 35%; height: 100%; background: linear-gradient(90deg,#3a8dde,#5fb4ff); border-radius: 20px; display: flex; align-items: center; padding-left: 10px; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; box-sizing: border-box;">
    ~$540M
   </div>
  </div>
 </div>
 <div style="margin-bottom: 16px;">
  <div style="display: flex; justify-content: space-between; flex-wrap: wrap; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
   June 2026<span style="color: #a9bdd8;">NEAR ~$2.75</span>
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  <div style="background: rgba(255,255,255,0.08); border-radius: 20px; height: 26px; overflow: hidden;">
   <div style="width: 54%; height: 100%; background: linear-gradient(90deg,#2bb3a3,#4fe0c5); border-radius: 20px; display: flex; align-items: center; padding-left: 10px; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; color: #06231f; box-sizing: border-box;">
    ~$850M
   </div>
  </div>
 </div>
 <div style="margin-bottom: 6px;">
  <div style="display: flex; justify-content: space-between; flex-wrap: wrap; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #ffcf5c;">September 27, 2026</span><span style="color: #ffcf5c;">NEAR $5.04</span>
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   <div style="width: 100%; height: 100%; background: linear-gradient(90deg,#f5a623,#ffcf5c); border-radius: 20px; display: flex; align-items: center; padding-left: 12px; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; color: #2b1a00; box-sizing: border-box;">
    $1.56B
   </div>
  </div>
 </div>
 <p style="margin: 16px 0 0; font-size: 12px; color: #8ea5c4;">Historical values are approximate, read from the CoinGlass open interest chart.</p>
</div>
<p>The contrast with 2024 is stark. NEAR traded near $8.90 in March of that year while futures positioning stayed below $500 million. Today the price is 43% lower and open interest is more than three times higher.</p>
<p>June 2026 is the closest precedent. Open interest spiked to about $850 million as NEAR climbed off its lows, and the price slid back under $2 by August as those positions unwound. The current build-up is almost twice that size, and it comes with a regulatory catalyst the June rally lacked.</p>
<figure style="margin: 24px 0;"><img style="width: 100%; height: auto; border-radius: 6px;" alt="NEAR Protocol open interest and price chart from late 2023 to September 2026">
 <figcaption style="font-size: 13px; color: #5a6b80; margin-top: 6px;">
  Source: CoinGlass
 </figcaption>
</figure>
<h2 id="cash-creations-and-staking-decide-how-much-near-the-nrr-fund-takes-off-the-market">Cash creations and staking decide how much NEAR the NRR fund takes off the market</h2>
<p>The exchange approval and the effective registration clear the way for trading. Bitwise has not confirmed a launch date, though a final 424B3 prospectus typically comes only days before a fund’s first trading session.</p>
<p>How the fund is built matters more for the token than the listing itself. According to the <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0002067111/000121390026103106/ea0306486-424b3_bitwise.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">final prospectus</a>, the trust holds NEAR directly, prices its shares against the CME CF NEAR Protocol-Dollar Reference Rate New York Variant, keeps the tokens with Coinbase Custody in segregated accounts and stakes some or all of its holdings to earn additional NEAR.</p>
<div style="display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; gap: 12px; margin: 24px 0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">
 <div style="flex: 1 1 140px; background: #ffffff; border: 1px solid #d7e0ec; border-top: 4px solid #0b1f3a; border-radius: 8px; padding: 14px;">
  <p style="margin: 0; font-size: 12px; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 1px; color: #5a6b80;">Ticker</p>
  <p style="margin: 6px 0 0; font-size: 22px; font-weight: bold; color: #0b1f3a;">NRR</p>
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 <div style="flex: 1 1 140px; background: #ffffff; border: 1px solid #d7e0ec; border-top: 4px solid #3a8dde; border-radius: 8px; padding: 14px;">
  <p style="margin: 0; font-size: 12px; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 1px; color: #5a6b80;">Sponsor fee</p>
  <p style="margin: 6px 0 0; font-size: 22px; font-weight: bold; color: #0b1f3a;">0.75% / yr</p>
 </div>
 <div style="flex: 1 1 140px; background: #ffffff; border: 1px solid #d7e0ec; border-top: 4px solid #2bb3a3; border-radius: 8px; padding: 14px;">
  <p style="margin: 0; font-size: 12px; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 1px; color: #5a6b80;">Custodian</p>
  <p style="margin: 6px 0 0; font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold; color: #0b1f3a;">Coinbase Custody</p>
 </div>
 <div style="flex: 1 1 140px; background: #ffffff; border: 1px solid #d7e0ec; border-top: 4px solid #f5a623; border-radius: 8px; padding: 14px;">
  <p style="margin: 0; font-size: 12px; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 1px; color: #5a6b80;">Creation unit</p>
  <p style="margin: 6px 0 0; font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold; color: #0b1f3a;">10,000 shares</p>
 </div>
</div>
<p>Demand reaches the token through creations. Authorized participants create or redeem shares in blocks of 10,000, delivering either NEAR or cash. Each cash creation obliges the trust to buy tokens on the open market, and whatever it stakes then sits behind NEAR’s multi-day unbonding period, which keeps those coins from returning to exchanges at short notice.</p>
<h2 id="bitwise-sees-155-near-by-2030-and-michael-van-de-poppe-backs-the-same-range">Bitwise sees $155 NEAR by 2030, and Michael van de Poppe backs the same range</h2>
<p>Bitwise has published long-term scenarios for the token. Its model values NEAR at $155.85 in a 2030 base case and $562.81 in a maximum case, with a bear case of $1.63.</p>
<div style="display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; gap: 14px; margin: 26px 0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">
 <div style="flex: 1 1 180px; border-radius: 12px; padding: 18px; background: linear-gradient(160deg,#fff1f0,#ffe0dd); border: 1px solid #f3b7b0;">
  <p style="margin: 0; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 1.5px; color: #b3261e; text-transform: uppercase;">Bear case</p>
  <p style="margin: 8px 0 4px; font-size: 30px; font-weight: bold; color: #7a1810;">$1.63</p>
  <p style="margin: 0; font-size: 14px; color: #7a1810;">About 69% below Sunday’s price</p>
 </div>
 <div style="flex: 1 1 180px; border-radius: 12px; padding: 18px; background: linear-gradient(160deg,#0b1f3a,#1c3d6e); color: #ffffff; box-shadow: 0 6px 18px rgba(11,31,58,0.25);">
  <p style="margin: 0; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 1.5px; color: #8fc4ff; text-transform: uppercase;">Base case</p>
  <p style="margin: 8px 0 4px; font-size: 30px; font-weight: bold;">$155.85</p>
  <p style="margin: 0; font-size: 14px; color: #c9daf0;">Roughly 30x the current price</p>
 </div>
 <div style="flex: 1 1 180px; border-radius: 12px; padding: 18px; background: linear-gradient(160deg,#f3ecff,#e2d4ff); border: 1px solid #c6aef5;">
  <p style="margin: 0; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 1.5px; color: #5b2ea6; text-transform: uppercase;">Maximum case</p>
  <p style="margin: 8px 0 4px; font-size: 30px; font-weight: bold; color: #3d1a7a;">$562.81</p>
  <p style="margin: 0; font-size: 14px; color: #3d1a7a;">More than 100x the current price</p>
 </div>
</div>
<p style="font-size: 12px; color: #5a6b80; margin: -12px 0 24px; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Bitwise scenarios for 2030. Multiples calculated against the $5.24 spot price.</p>
<p>Crypto analyst Michael van de Poppe endorsed the same bracket on X, <a href="https://x.com/CryptoMichNL/status/2103824909516558356" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">putting his base case for NEAR at $150</a> and above and his bull case at $550 and above.</p>
<blockquote style="margin: 22px 0; padding: 16px 20px; border-left: 4px solid #f5a623; background: #fffaf0; border-radius: 0 8px 8px 0; font-size: 17px; font-style: italic; color: #3a2a00;">
 <p>“I don’t think we’re bullish enough on crypto for the coming years.”<br><span style="display: block; margin-top: 8px; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; color: #7a6630;">Michael van de Poppe, on X</span></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Both sets of numbers need context. Bitwise sponsors the ETF and collects its management fee, so the firm publishing the scenarios has a direct commercial stake in investor interest. Van de Poppe’s figures sit almost exactly on Bitwise’s, so they add sentiment to Bitwise’s model without offering a separate valuation. Holding today’s circulating supply of about 1.3 billion tokens constant, a $155 price implies a market value above $200 billion, and new tokens issued through staking rewards would raise that bar further.</p>
<h2 id="sunday-s-5-44-high-ran-into-the-ceiling-of-a-nine-day-channel">Sunday’s $5.44 high ran into the ceiling of a nine-day channel</h2>
<p>On the 4-hour chart, NEAR has moved inside a rising channel since September 18. Each pullback found buyers at a higher level: near $3.45 on September 20, around $4.05 on September 24 and close to $4.75 early on September 27.</p>
<figure style="width: 100%" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img src="https://ethnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/nearusdt-tradingview-27-09-2026.jpg" alt="NEAR price moving inside an ascending channel on the 4-hour timeframe" width="1280" height="713">
 <figcaption>
  NEAR/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView, Alexander Stefanov
 </figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The breakout attempt failed on Sunday. Price touched $5.44 at the top of the channel, and the 4-hour candle closed 3.3% lower at $5.23. The lower boundary now runs near $5.00, leaving NEAR in the middle of a narrow range.</p>
<p>The 50-period moving average on this timeframe stands at $4.41, about 16% below the price, and roughly marks where traders bought over the past eight days. A drop toward it would push many recent entries into loss. The 200-period average at $2.79 shows where the rally began.</p>
<p>RSI reads 64.5. It went above 80 on September 18 and 19, when the price rose faster than buyers could sustain, and the lower reading now shows that pressure has eased while buyers keep the edge. The heaviest volume of the week arrived on September 23, during a sharp swing inside the channel.</p>
<div style="margin: 26px 0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; border-radius: 12px; overflow: hidden; border: 1px solid #d7e0ec;">
 <div style="background: linear-gradient(90deg,#0b1f3a,#1c3d6e); color: #ffffff; padding: 14px 18px; font-size: 17px; font-weight: bold;">
  NEAR price map, 4-hour chart
 </div>
 <div style="display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; align-items: center; justify-content: space-between; gap: 8px; padding: 14px 18px; background: #fff4f3; border-left: 6px solid #d64545;"><span style="font-size: 20px; font-weight: bold; color: #9b1c1c;">$5.44-$5.50</span><br><span style="font-size: 14px; color: #5a2020;">Channel ceiling, rejected Sunday’s high</span>
 </div>
 <div style="display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; align-items: center; justify-content: space-between; gap: 8px; padding: 14px 18px; background: #0b1f3a; color: #ffcf5c;"><span style="font-size: 20px; font-weight: bold;">$5.23</span><br><span style="font-size: 14px;">Current price</span>
 </div>
 <div style="display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; align-items: center; justify-content: space-between; gap: 8px; padding: 14px 18px; background: #effaf6; border-left: 6px solid #1f9d6b;"><span style="font-size: 20px; font-weight: bold; color: #12623f;">~$5.00</span><br><span style="font-size: 14px; color: #1d4a36;">Channel floor, held every dip since Sept 18</span>
 </div>
 <div style="display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; align-items: center; justify-content: space-between; gap: 8px; padding: 14px 18px; background: #f5fbf8; border-left: 6px solid #52b788;"><span style="font-size: 20px; font-weight: bold; color: #12623f;">$4.41</span><br><span style="font-size: 14px; color: #1d4a36;">50-period SMA, average cost of recent buyers</span>
 </div>
 <div style="display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; align-items: center; justify-content: space-between; gap: 8px; padding: 14px 18px; background: #ffffff; border-left: 6px solid #95d5b2;"><span style="font-size: 20px; font-weight: bold; color: #12623f;">~$4.05</span><br><span style="font-size: 14px; color: #1d4a36;">September 24 low, last major higher low</span>
 </div>
</div>
<h2 id="a-break-of-5-00-or-5-50-will-test-the-heaviest-futures-positioning-since-2023">A break of $5.00 or $5.50 will test the heaviest futures positioning since 2023</h2>
<p>With derivatives exposure near a quarter of market value, futures can drive the spot price on their own. A close below the channel floor near $5.00 would put the newest long positions under pressure, and forced liquidations tend to deepen declines during thin weekend sessions. A clean move above $5.50 would squeeze short sellers the same way. Funding rates on perpetual contracts will show which side is more crowded before either scenario plays out.</p>
<p>Bitwise’s launch announcement is the next scheduled catalyst, and the fund’s daily holdings disclosures will show how much NEAR the trust actually buys. When Bitwise launched its staked Solana fund in late October 2025, inflows continued for weeks while SOL’s price fell with the rest of the market. Early creation data for NRR will say more about lasting demand than the listing approval itself.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://ethnews.com/near-open-interest-bitwise-etf-nyse-arca/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">NEAR Open Interest Tops $1.5B as Bitwise ETF Clears NYSE Arca</a> appeared first on <a href="https://ethnews.com" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">ETHNews</a>.</p>

NEAR Open Interest Tops $1.5B as Bitwise ETF Clears NYSE Arca

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