A surge of activity on NEAR Intents has captured market attention, creating a compelling narrative of growth that stands in stark contrast to the NEAR token’s recent price action. This divergence between booming protocol usage and stagnant token value is central to the current debate about a potential recovery.
Understanding NEAR Intents and Its Meteoric Rise
NEAR Intents is a protocol built on the NEAR blockchain that simplifies complex cross-chain transactions. Instead of manually managing steps like bridging assets or paying gas fees on different networks, users simply state their desired outcome, or “intent”, and the protocol’s solvers find the most efficient way to execute it. This focus on user experience has recently translated into remarkable financial metrics.
The protocol has seen explosive growth, with its daily fee revenue hitting a record high of over $400,000, pushing cumulative fees past the $10 million mark. Trading volume has been even more impressive, consistently staying above $150 million daily and experiencing a tenfold increase from the previous quarter. This momentum was highlighted when Bitwise reported a weekly trading volume of $969 million in mid-November and projected that figure could reach $10 billion per week by June 2026. A significant driver of this volume has been the integration with the Zashi wallet, which facilitates private multichain swaps into ZEC (Zcash), accounting for roughly 10% of the protocol’s daily volume, or about $15 million per day.
The Puzzling Disconnect from NEAR’s Price
Despite this flurry of activity and positive projections, the price of the NEAR token has not reflected this success. As of late November 2025, NEAR’s price remains stuck in its 2025 accumulation range, trading between $1.90 and $3.10 for most of the year. This stagnation has occurred even as the broader NEAR ecosystem strengthens, with the total transaction volume for NEAR Intents surpassing $4.5 billion.
Analysts point to broader market conditions as the primary culprit. The decline in Bitcoin’s price has created a bearish tide that has swept up most altcoins, regardless of their individual strengths. Furthermore, while NEAR Intents is generating high fees, the economic model means that a large portion of this revenue is captured by third-party solvers and market makers, with the NEAR mainnet itself only receiving minimal gas fees. This has resulted in a decline in the mainnet’s Total Value Locked (TVL) and daily active users, creating a mixed picture that has so far dampened investor enthusiasm for the token.
The Road to a Potential Recovery
For the NEAR token to stage a meaningful recovery and decouple from its current stagnation, several factors need to align. The most significant catalyst would be a broad improvement in crypto market sentiment, particularly a recovery in Bitcoin’s price, which would relieve the selling pressure on altcoins. Additionally, for the token to directly capture more value from the success of NEAR Intents, the underlying economic models may need to evolve.
From a technical analysis perspective, some see NEAR’s current price near $1.90 as a key support level. If this level holds, and with the powerful fundamental catalyst of NEAR Intents’ growth, it could set the stage for a potential rebound once market fear subsides. Long-term price predictions for NEAR remain optimistic, with some forecasts suggesting a potential to test its all-time high of over $20 by 2026, though this is highly contingent on the token overcoming its immediate technical and macro challenges.
In conclusion, while the record-breaking activity on NEAR Intents provides a strong fundamental reason for optimism, the NEAR token’s path to a sustained recovery is not automatic. It hinges on a combination of a friendlier macro environment and the network’s ability to more directly translate protocol success into token value.
