NEAR jumps 28% thanks to AI and data privacy

The crypto market is recovering, but not all projects benefit from the return of capital. This week, NEAR Protocol emerges as one of the big winners: +28% in 24 hours, +45% over seven days. Behind this surge, three major updates reposition the project at the heart of the most trending topics of the moment: AI, privacy, and scalability.

NEAR benefits from the return of capital towards altcoins

The rally of NEAR Protocol comes after several strategic announcements made between May 20 and 22. The protocol introduced new solutions around on-chain privacy, artificial intelligence, and network scalability. The result: the market reacted immediately.

In a context where bitcoin recently corrected after its historic surge, part of the capital is starting to reposition on altcoins considered more aggressive and innovative. NEAR now appears as one of the few projects able to combine several strong market trends: AI, blockchain infrastructure, and data protection.

This dynamic far exceeds the performance of other crypto projects related to artificial intelligence such as Worldcoin or Venice Token. Traders now look for solid narratives rather than a simple speculative effect.

The market also seems to appreciate the long-term positioning adopted by co-founder Illia Polosukhin. For several months, he has defended the idea of a future dominated by “AI agents” capable of interacting directly with the blockchain to execute payments, manage contracts, or automate digital commerce.

Privacy, AI and scalability, NEAR’s new strategy

The main catalyst for this rise concerns the launch of “Confidential Treasuries.” This solution allows companies and organizations to manage private payments, multisignature treasuries, and cross-chain operations on more than 35 blockchains.

In an environment where privacy becomes a major issue for companies using AI, this development greatly enhances the protocol’s attractiveness. According to the NEAR team, more than $68 million has already transited through its confidential infrastructure in the past month.

Another major advancement: the integration of an automatic data anonymization system sent to models like OpenAI ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini. The goal is clear: to prevent sensitive data from leaving users’ devices.

Finally, NEAR is preparing a crucial upgrade scheduled for June 2026 with its “dynamic repartitioning” system. This technology will allow the network to automatically split its partitions to increase its processing capacity.

The protocol thus claims to be able to outperform traditional payment networks like Visa. An ambition that shows how blockchains now seek to attract not only decentralized finance but also the real economy fueled by AI.

A selective rally in a still wary market

This increase is not only due to technicals. Sammi Li, CEO of the Ju.com platform, points to a rotation of capital: after months of fueling Bitcoin, liquidity is seeking new vehicles. NEAR, with its historical positioning around AI, has become “one of the most obvious beneficiaries” of this influx.

But Li warns: prices can move “much faster than fundamentals” once the momentum is underway. And the market remains generally cautious. On the Myriad prediction platform, users assign only a 12% probability to a generalized altseason before July, a figure stable since May, confirming the “fear” level of the Fear & Greed index.

For Li, this caution is not necessarily a bad sign. Capital is now focusing on solid, well-established projects. “The market is much more selective than in previous cycles“, she notes. If Bitcoin holds, quality altcoins could outperform, “and this often starts when skepticism is still present.“

NEAR may have found its window of opportunity at the intersection of AI and confidential crypto. The real question is no longer whether the project is solid, but whether the market is ready to trust it over the long term.