Near token could surge 225%, crypto analyst predicts

The Near Protocol token remains in a strong bear market after falling almost 50% from its highs this year.

Near (NEAR) was trading at $4.62 on October 24 as Bitcoin (BTC) and most altcoins remained under pressure.

However, Michael van de Poppe, a popular crypto analyst with more than 700,000 followers on X, predicted that Bitcoin will soon recover and move between $10 and $15. A move above its estimate would represent a 225% increase from the current level.

Markets are preparing for the next big leg up.$APPROX. is a perfect example.

It has retested the previous consolidation area and is slowly moving upwards.

The next target in the rally is $10-15. pic.twitter.com/9tewdd6tQH

— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) 24 October 2024

Near Protocol, a layer 1 blockchain network that uses sharding technology to speed up performance, has struggled this year and has underperformed compared to other new networks.

Data from DeFi Llama shows that the total value locked in the DeFi sector fell from $323 million, a year-to-date high, to $231 million. The largest dApps in the ecosystem are Burrow, LiNEAR Protocol, Meta Pool Near and Ref Finance.

Near’s TVL is significantly lower than other new layer 1 and layer 2 networks. For example, Base Blockchain, launched by Coinbase in 2023, has acquired $2.43 billion in assets. Similarly, while Sui earned $1.01 billion, Arbitrum has $2.34 billion.

Near Protocol also has a small market share in the Decentralized Exchange industry. DEX networks in its ecosystem processed transactions worth $26.3 million; This makes it smaller than chains like Mint, Injective and Blast.

This performance is partly due to the lack of Near Protocol’s meme coin ecosystem, which has made Solana (SOL) the largest DEX blockchain this year.

On the positive side, Near is processing significant transactions every week. Data from Dune Analytics shows that 49.2 million transactions were processed in the last seven days, while the number of weekly active addresses increased by 11% to 11.55 million.

Near token is approaching the key level NEAR chart by TradingView

The daily chart shows that the Near Protocol token has been consolidating in recent days. It formed a symmetrical triangle pattern approaching the confluence level. This triangle formed during an uptrend, which means it can be viewed as a bullish pennant chart formation. The pennant is a popular continuation signal.

NEAR has also formed an inverse head and shoulders pattern, which generally leads to further upside. For this to happen, the Near will need to rise above the 50% Fibonacci retracement point of $5,012 and the 200-day moving average of $4.88.