NEAR Protocol (NEAR) Explodes 45% in Three Days: Key Drivers Behind the Surge

Key Highlights

• NEAR Protocol rallied more than 45% across a three-day period, reaching $3.45 by September 18
• Platform introduced confidential perpetual futures via Hyperliquid, concealing trader positions from public blockchain view
• Cross-chain deposit system supports 35+ networks with integrated privacy infrastructure
• Milestone-based incentive initiative locked 333,333 tokens, unlockable when NEAR’s 3-day VWAP reaches $3.33
• NEAR Intents accumulated $5.01 million in aggregate fees during the last 30 days, capturing $1.58 million in protocol revenue

Between September 15 and September 18, NEAR Protocol’s token value surged from $2.34 to $3.45, representing a substantial 45% appreciation within just three days. Daily trading activity spiked by 120%, reaching $1.24 billion, while the network’s total market capitalization expanded from approximately $3.22 billion to $4.46 billion.

This aggressive price movement stemmed from multiple concurrent catalysts: new product rollouts, structured incentive mechanisms, and measurable blockchain utilization.

The network introduced private perpetual futures trading functionality through its Hyperliquid integration. Traders can establish leveraged exposure up to 40x across more than 50 trading pairs, with transaction specifics automatically shielded from public blockchain visibility.

Trading positions, entry points, and directional bets remain encrypted within NEAR’s dedicated private shard infrastructure. External parties cannot monitor user trading activity, position sizes, or execution timing.

This capability operates through NEAR Intents, an interoperability protocol facilitating seamless trading across more than 35 different blockchain networks. Traders avoid the friction of manually bridging assets between different wallet ecosystems before executing trades.

Digital asset analyst Michaël van de Poppe weighed in on the token’s performance, observing that $NEAR’s technical chart structure appeared robust and suggesting it was “just a matter of time” before the asset hit $5, highlighting its approach toward a critical resistance threshold.

Absolutely phenomenal chart on $NEAR.

Sure, it’s at the final point of resistance, but given the fact that $ZEC is acting in the way that it is.

It’s just a matter of time until this will reach $5. pic.twitter.com/mYJpJBE3A0

— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) September 17, 2026

Milestone-Based Reward Structure Targeting $3.33

Near.com rolled out a rewards initiative labeled [email protected], allocating 333,333 milestone tokens to participants maintaining over $100 in confidential accounts who executed at least one private swap transaction.

These reward tokens remain non-transferable initially. Conversion to NEAR at a 1:1 exchange rate activates exclusively when the three-day volume-weighted average price achieves and maintains $3.33. At that threshold, the total reward distribution equals approximately $1.11 million.

This structure strategically minimizes immediate sell pressure. Contrasting with conventional token distributions, participants cannot instantly claim and liquidate rewards. Price sustainability matters, not merely temporary spikes.

Large-Scale Trading Activity and Revenue Metrics

On September 9, previously inactive wallet addresses executed significant purchases totaling $33.37 million in ETH through CowSwap, subsequently exchanging 2,500 ETH for 6,601 ZEC utilizing NEAR Intents. Service fees for this operation totaled 16.75 ETH, approximately $42,000.

This significant transaction demonstrated genuine demand from institutional-scale traders seeking privacy features to circumvent front-running attacks.

Throughout the previous 30-day period, NEAR Intents accumulated $5.01 million in aggregate transaction fees. The protocol retained $1.58 million as net revenue, generated through front-end fee structures, spread optimization, and partnership integrations rather than conventional gas-based fee models.

On September 17, near.com verified that total value deposited into Secret Mode exceeded $70 million, with the initial snapshot for the reward program successfully completed.

Hyperliquid, providing the derivatives infrastructure powering NEAR’s confidential trading features, facilitated approximately $240 billion in perpetual contract volume during the past month. Meanwhile, Payward, Kraken’s parent entity, disclosed intentions to deploy on-chain perpetual futures through Hyperliquid for United States-based users.