NEAR Protocol Shows Significant Growth in September 2026

In September 2026, the NEAR token demonstrated significant growth, exceeding 100% in two weeks. Starting the month at around $1.80, NEAR accelerated its rise, leaving behind a drop below $2.70 in mid-September. From September 16, the token increased from approximately $2.62 to $4.60 by September 24. By September 27, its price reached around $5.55, and by September 30, it closed at approximately $5.34. According to Santiment data, from September 13 to 20, NEAR increased by 81%, while open positions in dollars rose by 119%. Meanwhile, open interest in NEAR tokens increased by only 21%, indicating that the growth was partly due to the increase in the token's dollar value rather than an equivalent expansion of core positions. Funding rates reached about 1.6 times the two-month median in September, and according to Santiment, leverage played a significant role in the growth; however, available metrics have not yet signaled the typical divergence associated with position exhaustion.

The launch of NEAR in spot trading on the Hyperliquid platform on September 22-23 also boosted the derivatives market, adding direct NEAR/USDC trading to the existing perpetual contracts market. Open interest in NEAR perpetual contracts on Hyperliquid was about $344 million at that time, highlighting the scale of leveraged interest in the token. Another significant stimulus was the launch of the first spot ETF on NEAR by Bitwise on September 29. The fund, listed on NYSE Arca under the ticker NRR, is designed for direct holding of NEAR and token staking, with annual fees of 0.75%. By October 6, the fund attracted about $58 million in its first week. The ETF launch also drew attention to Bitwise's 40-page research. Head of Investments Matt Hougan and Head of European Research André Dragosch presented several scenarios for NEAR's future value, including a maximum valuation of $562.81 by 2030, based on the assumption that NEAR could capture about 3% of the AI agents market, equivalent to approximately 950 million agents, applying a price-to-revenue multiplier of 50. Amid this, NEAR continues to develop its ecosystem, focusing on AI agents, confidential computing, and cross-chain infrastructure. NEAR AI expanded its confidential output platform through integration with OpenRouter on September 28, and on September 30, NEAR One introduced the SPICE architecture, offering a redesign that separates transaction execution and consensus to improve scalability.

As seen, in a short period, NEAR has gone from an inefficient altcoin to one of the strongest stories in the market. The ETF launch, institutional interest, and the growing narrative around AI provide potential fundamental support, while the rapid price increase creates risks for profit-taking and leverage. Currently, the key support zone is the $4.60-$4.70 area, holding above which could help NEAR establish a higher base before a new attempt to reach the $5.00 level and possibly the $5.40-$5.60 resistance area. However, a sustained break below this support could increase the likelihood of a deeper correction following the token's impressive growth in September.