NEAR Protocol ($NEAR) is showing strong indicators of an impending significant price rally, according to a detailed analysis employing the classic Wyckoff Method. A chart analysis shared by The Wyckoff Architect on X in December 2025 illustrates NEAR/USDT's price action, revealing a textbook accumulation phase that suggests a substantial markup rally is on the horizon. The Wyckoff Method, a well-established analytical framework, categorizes market cycles into distinct phases: accumulation, markup, distribution, and markdown. This method focuses on understanding market dynamics through the relationship between price and trading volume to identify accumulation by "smart money" prior to broad market uptrends.
$NEAR : One of the stronger coins in the market due to its connections with Grayscale.
— The Wyckoff Architect (@WyckArchitect) December 3, 2025
Personally, I find newer assets more attractive projects that haven’t had their true Alt-season yet and carry untapped upside.
But even with that said, I still expect NEAR to perform well… pic.twitter.com/W5WKzUQwG2
Grayscale Trust Bolsters Institutional Legitimacy
The analysis of NEAR's price action from mid-2024 to late 2025 aligns precisely with the Wyckoff framework. The preliminary support was established around $3.50 in Phase (A). This was followed by Phase (B), characterized by a selling climax at $2.80 in late 2024, marking the bottom of panic selling. Phase (C) saw an automatic rally to $5.20, testing buyer interest, while Phase (D) involved a secondary test with reduced selling pressure, indicated by lower trading volume. The crucial Phase (E) spring, a false breakdown below support, successfully trapped short sellers and signaled the conclusion of the accumulation phase, with the price subsequently rebounding sharply.
NEAR's AI Focus and Fundamental Strengths Drive Growth
This technical setup strongly suggests NEAR is poised for a breakout above the $6 resistance level, with potential targets set between $10 and $12 in the near term, based on measured moves from the identified accumulation range. The Wyckoff Architect specifically noted NEAR's market resilience, attributing its strength to its significant connections with major institutional players like Grayscale. The Grayscale Near Trust (GSNR), which commenced trading on OTCQB in September 2025 after its launch in May 2024, offers accredited investors a straightforward method to gain exposure to NEAR without the complexities of direct custody. With an expense ratio of 2.50%, the trust tracks NEAR's spot price, reflecting increasing institutional confidence in the asset.
Fundamentally, NEAR Protocol distinguishes itself within the Layer-1 blockchain ecosystem. Its design incorporates sharding for enhanced scalability, resulting in low transaction fees and high throughput, making it particularly well-suited for decentralized applications (dApps) and artificial intelligence (AI) integrations. NEAR's co-founder, Illia Polosukhin, who previously worked at Google AI and was a co-author of the seminal Transformer paper, has been instrumental in guiding NEAR towards AI-native blockchain use cases. This includes the development of "NEAR Intents," which aim to simplify user interactions for tasks such as token swaps and staking.
Key Breakout Levels and Trader Outlook
NEAR Protocol is currently experiencing daily active user and transaction volumes that are comparable to established networks like Ethereum and Solana. Despite this strong performance, NEAR's market capitalization of approximately $7 billion as of May 2024 suggests it may be undervalued, especially considering the growing hype surrounding AI technologies heading into 2026. While the analyst expressed a preference for newer altcoins with greater untapped upside potential, NEAR's combination of technical readiness and established institutional backing positions it as a relatively low-risk investment for the anticipated next alt-season. As Bitcoin's price action stabilizes following the recent halving event, capital rotation into altcoins like NEAR could accelerate.
Traders are advised to closely monitor for significant volume spikes above the $6 resistance level as a confirmation signal for the anticipated breakout. The current technical analysis suggests that the accumulation phase is complete, and the market is preparing for a markup phase.