NEAR Protocol Gains 50%: Key Insights Into User Activity and Network Upgrades

• Near Protocol’s NEAR has surged 50%, attributed to a combination of factors, including network upgrades, increasing user activity, and external market influences.
• One of the most notable developments boosting NEAR’s performance is the successful implementation of blockchain sharding which has positioned the protocol as a leader in scalability and efficiency.

NEAR protocol’s NEAR has showcased splendid bullish momentum in the past few weeks. In fact, the token is changing wallets with $5.22, marking a 0.65% and 29.84% surge in the last 24 hours and past week, respectively. 

Retracting, September 6 saw NEAR’s price dithered around the $3.41 level; since then, the token’s price has been steadily increasing, climbing 57% to reach an eight-week high of $5.36 on September 24. This dramatic surge can be attributed to a combination of factors, including network upgrades, increasing user activity, and external market influences.

Sharding Implementation Drives NEAR Price Surge

One of the notable developments that have bolstered NEAR’s impressive performance is the successful implementation of Blockchain Shrading. Justin Bron, Founder and CIO of Cybercapital took to the X platform stating “NEAR has finally implemented sharding!”

1/9) NEAR has finally implemented sharding!

The holy grail of blockchain scaling, solving the blockchain trilemma once & for all

Stateless validation was the last missing piece of the puzzle

Giving us massive capacity without sacrificing decentralization, the future is now! 🧵

— Justin Bons (@Justin_Bons) September 23, 2024

Notably, this upgrade, introduced through the NEAR 2.0 involves splitting a blockchain up into smaller, more agile blockchains so it can handle more transactions. By doing so NEAR Protocol is a step closer to being a leader in scalability and efficiency. 

Notably, NEAR is now the second blockchain, after Elrond, to implement sharding in production.

This significant upgrade plays a big role as demand for DApps grows. Additionally, This enhancement has put NEAR Protocol ahead of the second-largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum. In fact, Ethereum developers plan to share the network to both increase its throughput and help it efficiently move to a proof-to-stake-based consensus in the future. 

NEAR Protocols partnership between Nvidia and Alibaba Cloud

Broader market developments have positively impacted NEAR’s price performance. Concurrent with the Federal Reserve’s interest rate reduction, the cryptocurrency market rebounded. The recent partnership between Nvidia and Alibaba Cloud aimed at improving autonomous driving in China on September 21st added to the optimism. 

Additionally, U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris recently hinted at creating an “opportunity economy” for AI and digital assets, marking a key moment for AI-linked tokens. These announcements saw NEAR’s price jump by a whopping 21.84% within a week. 

Increased User Activity in NEAR Protocol Network

A significant uptick in network activity backs NEAR’s impressive price surge. Data from NearBlocks.io shows that daily transaction counts on the NEAR Protocol increased by 42% between August 25 and September 24, while new address creation rose by 30.8% during the same period. This indicates growing adoption of the protocol and greater user engagement.

Additionally, according to DefiLlama, the total value locked (TVL) on NEAR has surged by 34%, rising from $183.7 million on September 7 to $246.5 million on September 24. An increasing TVL suggests that more users are depositing and utilizing assets within NEAR-based protocols, underscoring the growing interest in the ecosystem.

Further signaling market confidence, NEAR’s open interest (OI) in futures markets has risen sharply. CoinGlass data shows that NEAR’s OI increased from $114.9 million on September 7 to $279.2 million on September 24, the highest level since June 7. This rise suggests new money entering the market, signaling ongoing demand for the token.