Should You Buy NEAR Protocol in 2025?

NEAR Protocol in brief

How much does 1 NEAR Protocol cost?

The price of NEAR Protocol is up this week. Currently, NEAR trades at CA$7.68, showing a 4.3% increase over the past 24 hours and a 15.6% rise on the week. Its market capitalization stands at CA$8.18 billion, ranking NEAR 17th among cryptocurrencies, with an average 3-month trading volume of CA$395 million. There are 1.067 billion NEAR tokens in circulation, representing a 0.48% market dominance.

Given the current momentum and recent volatility, NEAR remains one of the digital assets to watch for Canadian investors seeking diversified crypto exposure.

Our full review of the NEAR Protocol cryptocurrency

In the rapidly evolving world of digital assets, is NEAR Protocol poised to outperform its peers in the coming cycle? After dissecting the latest three-year trends of NEAR, we’ve leveraged proprietary algorithms combining on-chain metrics, technical signals, market data and competitive context to deliver a holistic view. So, why might NEAR Protocol become a strategic entry point in the Web3 infrastructure landscape in 2025?

Recent Performance and Market Context

Price Evolution

After a period of consolidation in 2023, NEAR Protocol (NEAR) has established itself as one of the standout performers within the mid-to-large-cap smart contract ecosystem. The first half of 2024 saw NEAR appreciate from approximately 1.80 USD to levels oscillating around 7.00–7.50 USD, before stabilizing near the current 6.00 USD mark. This move represents an over 230% increase year-over-year, despite a challenging macroeconomic context and relative dollar strength.

Recent Positive Developments

• Protocol Milestones: NEAR continues to roll out upgrades, most notably the 'Chain Abstraction' initiative launched at ETH Denver 2024—this enables seamless multichain interaction, significantly expanding network utility.
• Major Partnerships: Collaborations with industry leaders such as Polygon, Circle (USDC), and Google Cloud have fostered fresh integrations, driving capital inflows and network usage.
• Ecosystem Growth: The 'NEAR Horizon' accelerator, launched in 2024, has attracted new DeFi and gaming projects, leading to a surge in developer activity (developer count >2,000 active/month, according to Electric Capital).

Supportive Macroeconomic/Sectoral Trends

• Risk-On Environment: As institutional demand for scalable Layer 1 solutions grows, NEAR’s sharded architecture is increasingly attractive.
• Favourable Regulatory Winds: Canada’s progressive crypto stance and global regulatory clarifications support broader digital asset adoption.
• Layer 1 Leadership Rotation: With Ethereum encountering scaling bottlenecks and fee spikes, NEAR’s transaction throughput and finality advantage become increasingly relevant for dApp builders and users.

Technical Analysis

Relevant Crypto Indicators

• RSI (Relative Strength Index): NEAR’s weekly RSI currently sits near 52, indicating neutral momentum—neither overbought nor oversold.
• MACD (Moving Average Convergence Divergence): The MACD histogram is positive, with a bullish crossover on daily and weekly timeframes suggesting a potential trend reversal in favour of bulls.
• Major Moving Averages: NEAR has reclaimed the 50-day and 200-day moving averages, price action above both signifies a longer-term uptrend resumption.

Support, Reversal, and Momentum

• Key Support Levels: Robust support is evident at the 5.10–5.25 USD band, underpinned by high-volume nodes and recent buying interest.
• Bullish Signals: A break above the local resistance at 7.00–7.20 USD could trigger a fresh impulsive move.
• Favourable Momentum: Rising on-chain active addresses and backend transaction counts point to renewed organic usage; the market structure supports a medium-term upside if broader risk sentiment remains constructive.

Fundamental Analysis

Adoption, Partnerships and Ecosystem

• Widening Adoption: Daily active users have averaged above 526,000 in Q2 2024—a historic high—indicating heightened demand for NEAR-native apps.
• Strategic Partnerships: Deals with Mastercard (for NFT payment rails) and Fireblocks (for institutional custody) expand its market reach.
• Burgeoning Ecosystem: The TVL (Total Value Locked) on NEAR DeFi protocols now exceeds 160M USD, a 4x increase YoY, supported by leading apps like Ref Finance and Orderly Network.

Valuation and Structural Strengths

• Attractive Relative Valuation: With a market cap of around 6.1B USD and FDV below 6.5B USD, NEAR’s upside targets remain competitive, especially vis-à-vis less scalable rivals.
• Technological Differentiation: The Nightshade sharding mechanism allows for dynamic scaling, low fees, and near-instant finality—placing NEAR ahead in throughput and UX versus many EVM chains.
• Community Activity: NEAR’s community has grown 38% YoY across social channels, reflecting sticky grassroots engagement.

Volume, Liquidity, and Positioning

• Sustained Volume, Ample Liquidity: Daily trading volumes consistently exceed 300M USD, ensuring both institutional entry/exit flexibility and market confidence.
• Top 20 Crypto Asset: NEAR consistently ranks within the top 20 by market capitalization, further confirming its status as a core network among digital assets.

Positive Catalysts and Forward-Looking Perspective

• Protocol Upgrades and Integrations: The long-awaited NEAR FastAuth and Data Availability Layer implementations are set for release in late 2024—both pivotal for onboarding institutional dApps.
• DeFi, NFT, and Modular Layer Growth: Key verticals (DeFi TVL, gaming NFTs, cross-chain bridges) are rapidly expanding, with ecosystem projects raising significant venture funds.
• Regulatory and New Use-Cases: Canada’s evolving stance on digital identity/wallets and Open Web standards aligns closely with NEAR’s product roadmap—unlocking fresh institutional demand.

Investment Strategies by Time Horizon

Short-Term (1–3 months)

• Strengthening Positioning on Retracements: Short-term traders may look for technical pullbacks to the 5.25–5.55 USD level as ideal entry points amid generally bullish mid-term structure.
• Catalyst Monitoring: Upcoming protocol releases and ecosystem hackathons through Q3 2024 could act as inflection points for renewed momentum.

Medium-Term (3–12 months)

• Ecosystem Ramping: As platform TVL and user metrics accelerate, NEAR’s undervalued status relative to competitors may drive a rerating.
• Staking Yields: Medium-term holders can benefit from attractive staking returns (APY ~7–8%), compounding potential upside.

Long-Term (>12 months)

• Institutional Onboarding and Fundamental Growth: The convergence of strong developer traction, ongoing protocol evolution, and likely regulatory clarity into 2025–2026 sets the stage for sustained appreciation.
• Key Milestones Ahead: Positioning ahead of major protocol upgrades (e.g., Nightshade full sharding, zk integration) could be particularly advantageous.

NEAR Protocol Price Projections

Is Now the Right Time to Consider NEAR Protocol?

NEAR Protocol manifests a compelling combination of technical resilience, accelerating adoption, and robust network fundamentals. Its innovative modular architecture, reinforced by strategic partnerships and consistently increasing volumes, justifies a renewed focus for forward-looking investors. The favourable technical structure, organically rising DeFi/NFT activity, and upcoming network upgrades all spotlight NEAR as a potentially excellent opportunity at these levels.

Buyers should note NEAR's dynamism and the ecosystem’s capacity to deliver both rapid upside moves and sustained fundamental progress. The outlined projection underscores NEAR's potential for outsized performance in the coming years—the essential ingredients for building long-term conviction in a Web3 leader.

NEAR Protocol remains a high-volatility asset offering strong opportunities for dynamic investors—requiring prudent risk management. The ongoing price acceleration highlights NEAR’s ability to generate powerful moves, while approaching macro shifts demand selectivity. Technical key levels to watch are 5.10 USD as immediate support and 7.20 USD as critical resistance; the major protocol update slated for late 2024 could prove decisive for NEAR's next phase.

How to buy NEAR Protocol?

It is simple and secure to purchase NEAR Protocol cryptocurrency online through regulated Canadian platforms. Investors can choose between two main methods: direct spot buying—where you own the actual coins stored in your wallet—or trading NEAR via crypto CFDs, which lets you speculate on price without ownership. Each method has its advantages in terms of flexibility and risk. For a closer look at the pros, cons, and fees of the best platforms in Canada, check out our detailed platform comparison further down this page.

Spot Buying

Spot buying NEAR Protocol means purchasing the actual tokens and storing them in your own crypto wallet, giving you outright ownership. This method typically involves a fixed transaction fee, often around 1–2% or a set amount, charged in Canadian dollars.

Example

Suppose NEAR trades at $7.00 CAD per coin. With a $1,000 CAD investment, after a $5 CAD transaction fee, you could purchase approximately 142 NEAR tokens ($995 ÷ $7).

✔️ Gain Scenario

If the price of NEAR rises by 10% to $7.70 CAD, your holdings would be worth about $1,100 CAD. Result: a gross gain of $100 CAD, or +10% on your initial investment.

Trading via CFD

Trading through crypto CFDs (Contracts for Difference) allows you to speculate on NEAR Protocol's price movement without actually owning the coins. This method uses leverage, meaning you can take larger positions with relatively smaller capital. Costs usually include a spread (the difference between buy and sell price) and daily overnight financing fees if your position stays open past one day.

Example

You open a CFD position on NEAR Protocol with $1,000 CAD and a 5x leverage, giving you $5,000 CAD of exposure.

✔️ Gain Scenario

If NEAR Protocol rises by 8%, your leveraged position delivers a return of 8% × 5 = 40%. Result: you earn $400 CAD (before fees), from your initial $1,000 CAD investment.

Final Guidance

Before investing, carefully compare the platforms’ fees, security standards, and terms shown below. Your choice should depend on your risk appetite, experience, and whether you prefer actual token ownership or simply speculating on price changes. Use our platform comparison chart to find the best fit for your goals.

Our 7 tips for buying NEAR Protocol

The latest news about the NEAR Protocol

NEAR Protocol has seen notable trading volume growth on Canada’s Newton and NDAX exchanges this week. Canadian-based crypto platforms Newton and NDAX have both reported an uptick in NEAR/CA$ trading volume during the past seven days, demonstrating a surge of local interest and liquidity in the asset. This increase has been associated with a broader improvement in sentiment toward proof-of-stake blockchains, as well as renewed retail engagement following Newton’s official communication promoting NEAR as a featured asset for Canadian investors. Analysts note that Newton’s compliance with OSC guidelines further cements NEAR’s status as a reputable digital asset within Canadian borders.

Regulatory clarity in Canada continues to support NEAR Protocol’s accessibility for retail and institutional investors. OSFI and CIRO have maintained their support for digital asset innovation, releasing on June 3 a joint statement reaffirming regulatory clarity for crypto-assets like NEAR that prioritize transparency and decentralization. These guidelines help strengthen investor confidence in altcoins with robust governance, such as NEAR Protocol, and enable local fintech firms to explore expanded use cases, in accordance with Canadian securities laws. Consequently, NEAR’s ongoing compliance reassures both retail and professional investors and contributes to its positive performance in the Canadian market.

Toronto-based Web3 gaming studio, ChainSafe, announced a new partnership with NEAR to launch blockchain gaming apps locally. ChainSafe’s June 4 press release detailed collaborative efforts with NEAR Protocol to develop a suite of gaming dApps tailored for the Canadian market. This partnership is set to integrate NEAR’s cost-efficient, scalable smart contract infrastructure to attract game developers and studios from Ontario and beyond. The move is expected to enhance the Canadian blockchain gaming ecosystem and spotlight NEAR as a leading solution for low-latency, high-performance decentralized applications.

New staking education programs rolled out in Québec attract community members to NEAR’s validator ecosystem. Leading French-language crypto education platform BlockchainQC featured NEAR Protocol in its June seminar, introducing staking, validator operation, and sustainable yield strategies to a Québecois audience. The collaboration with local blockchain advocacy groups has led to increased engagement, with several regional tech co-ops announcing intentions to pilot NEAR validator nodes, reinforcing the network’s decentralization and supporting grassroots adoption.

NEAR Foundation’s increased funding for North American ecosystem grants includes targeted support for Canadian blockchain developers. On June 5, NEAR Foundation unveiled its latest ecosystem growth initiative, explicitly allocating resources to Canadian-based project founders through its new $10M regional fund. This development opens fresh opportunities for Canadian entrepreneurs and researchers to access technical grants, fostering innovation and incentivizing local talent to deploy or migrate their decentralized apps onto the NEAR Protocol platform.

FAQ

P. Laurore

Finance expert

Co-founder of HelloSafe and holder of a Master's degree in finance, Pauline has recognised expertise in personal finance, which she uses to help users better understand and optimise their financial choices. At HelloSafe, Pauline plays a key role in designing clear, educational content on savings, investments and personal finance. Passionate about financial education, Pauline strives, with every piece of content she oversees, to provide reliable, transparent and unbiased information for independent and informed financial management. To this end, she has tested over 100 trading platforms to help internet users make the right choices.