Near Coin Investment Guide: Finding Opportunities from the Bottom

The cryptocurrency market remains subdued, but this has precisely created a dormancy period for some projects. As a well-established public chain that has attracted much attention, its native token Near has seen its price bottom out, yet hidden investment opportunities remain. This article will help you understand the value of Near and how to seize opportunities in a bear market.

The Essence and Operating Mechanism of Near

Near is the native token of the NEAR Protocol, with straightforward and powerful functions: paying for transaction and data storage fees, staking for rewards, and participating in on-chain governance voting.

The NEAR Protocol officially launched on April 22, 2020, with an initial issuance of 1 billion Near tokens. The protocol adopts an inflation mechanism, with an additional 5% issuance annually as block rewards, of which 90% (annualized 4.5%) is distributed to validators, and 10% (annualized 0.5%) enters the protocol reserve. Of the transaction fees, 30% is returned to smart contracts, and 70% is permanently burned. This design helps maintain long-term supply stability.

Current Price and Historical Benchmarking of Near

Currently, Near is priced at $1.77, down over 91% from its all-time high of $20.44 in 2021. Compared with the same period declines of Bitcoin and Ethereum, Near has borne significantly heavier selling pressure.

The past year’s trend has not been optimistic. After rebounding from a low of $1.23 last year, it reached a high of $2.84. Despite over 100% rebound, the sustainability is clearly lacking. Technically, Near is deep in a bear market, lacking clear signals of bottom formation or reversal. Short-term traders entering now face the dual costs of capital stagnation and time.

From a chart perspective, Near is gradually declining within a descending triangle. After breaking below last year’s low, the bears further consolidated their advantage. In the short to medium term, if the overall environment does not improve, Near may seek support along the lower channel. The $1.6 level acts as both a weekly high and a trendline resistance. Bulls need to break through this key level to open up a broader rebound space.

Future Price Outlook

Industry analysis agencies are confident about Near’s long-term prospects. Based on forecasts from multiple institutions over a 10-year horizon, the projections are as follows:

From a fundamental analysis perspective, Near first needs to break through the downward channel’s resistance before challenging the $3 mark. This process largely depends on overall market performance, especially whether Bitcoin’s halving in 2024 can bring the anticipated bull market. Considering the high volatility of crypto assets, once the market turns, reaching the previous $6 platform may not take many years.

Investment Advantages of Near

1. Usability and Accessibility

The Near Foundation aims to eliminate technical barriers in Web3, striving to bring hundreds of millions of Web2 users into the ecosystem. Compared to traditional wallets requiring specialized tools (like MetaMask), Near’s ecosystem wallets can be applied for directly via email, greatly lowering entry barriers for newcomers.

2. Speed and Cost Advantages

As a public chain, Near offers relatively friendly transaction speeds and fee costs, which is a clear advantage for traditional investors.

3. Ecosystem Vitality Indicators

Despite the low token price, the Near project itself has not stagnated. According to the latest data from DeFi Llama, recent new user additions surged by 600,000, with transaction counts skyrocketing to 1.2 million. This growth momentum mainly stems from kaikai, a flagship product incubated by Near—a super ecosystem called Cosmose AI launched by Near. Kaikai integrates food, shopping, retail, and other lifestyle scenarios, functioning as a Web3 version of mass reviews, effectively boosting on-chain activity.

Two Investment Paths for Near

Path 1: Long-term Spot Accumulation

Suitable for investors with some experience in the crypto space. Purchase Near tokens on CEX or DEX and accumulate through dollar-cost averaging. Currently, the price is significantly low; staking Near can partly offset the risk of price decline and also offer potential gains from future bull markets through token appreciation and increased supply. Note that on-chain operations must pay attention to security issues like private key safety.

Path 2: Short-term Contract Trading

For investors who prefer quick entry and exit or are accustomed to derivatives, consider CEX contract trading or CFD trading. CEX contracts offer a variety of products with relatively stable leverage; CFD trading has lower thresholds and more flexible leverage options.

Risk Warning Before Investing

The current technical trend and price structure of Near do not support an aggressive bullish stance. Long-term investors should consider dollar-cost averaging wisely, but only increase their position after clear trend reversal signals. Short-term traders can look for volatility trading opportunities within the upper and lower bounds of the descending triangle.

Regardless of the strategy, capital management and risk control are always prerequisites. In the journey of investing in Near, rationally assessing your risk tolerance and establishing clear stop-loss and take-profit plans are key to long-term survival.