NEAR Protocol coin saw the largest 24-hour gain among AI-related tokens on Friday morning, jumping 26.52% to $2.19. This surge was sparked by a short squeeze at the $1.72 resistance, which led to about $5.8 million in short liquidations and pushed NEAR price more than 70% above its monthly low of around $1.25.
NVIDIA’s Q1 FY2027 earnings report, released May 20 and showing 85% year-over-year revenue growth, had already created a positive backdrop. Meanwhile, NEAR’s focus on the “Agentic Web,” where AI agents autonomously manage payments, identity, and cross-chain tasks, helped it stand out as the clear winner in this market shift.
Why is NEAR Price Up Today? The Catalysts Explained
NEAR’s 25.52% gain outpaced other AI tokens for the day. For comparison, Worldcoin (WLD) rose 9.94%, Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET) gained 8.42%, Venice Token (VVV) increased 5.38%, Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUALS) rose 5.08%, and Internet Computer (ICP) added 3.31%. NEAR’s 24-hour trading volume reached $825 million, up 124.34%, and its market cap hit $2.84 billion. NEAR led this market rotation by more than 15 percentage points over the next-closest AI token today.
NVIDIA’s Q1 FY2027 earnings, released on May 20, showed 85% year-over-year revenue growth with $81.6 billion in quarterly revenue. The company also approved another $80 billion in share buybacks and raised its quarterly dividend from $0.01 to $0.25 per share. These moves signaled strong confidence in AI infrastructure and helped speed up the shift toward decentralized AI projects.
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Near Protocol privacy AI tools, built on NVIDIA-powered Trusted Execution Environments, remove sensitive data before sending requests to models like ChatGPT and Claude.
NEAR’s annual inflation rate also dropped from 5% to 2.5%, and protocol fees are now used to buy NEAR tokens.
NEAR Protocol Price Prediction: Elliott Wave Eyes $2.87 as Next Target
Analyst DonWedge identified this setup on May 7 as a descending wedge with a $3.00 technical reference level. He publicly confirmed the trade on May 21, when the NEAR price broke out.
Meanwhile, More Crypto Online followed Friday morning with a 3.5-minute Elliott Wave breakdown, reading the current advance as a new impulse wave following the completion of a multi-year corrective A-B-C structure.
On the weekly and 4-day charts, Fibonacci extension targets are at 123.6% ($2.30), 138.2% ($2.50), and 161.8% ($2.87). The 100% extension at $2.01 to $2.10 has already been reached. On the 4-hour chart, immediate targets are $2.01 to $2.31, with support between $1.40 and $1.60.
Short-term moving averages for the 10-, 20-, 30-, and 50-periods all show a Buy signal. The EMA(50) is at $1.977, and the SMA(50)is at $1.948, acting as the closest support levels below the current price.
Based on the Elliott Wave structure, NEAR Protocol price is expected to face resistance between $2.30 and $2.50. If buyers continue to support the price during pullbacks, the next target could be $2.87.
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