Altcoin Sell-Off Hits NEAR Protocol, Price Falls 5%

NEAR Protocol Drops 5% as Market Fragility Deepens, Resistance at $2.84 Holds

NEAR Protocol faced renewed selling pressure on Wednesday, sliding 5.41% from $2.97 to $2.81 amid broader weakness in the altcoin market. The move reflected fading risk appetite across crypto assets, with NEAR unable to sustain recent momentum despite underlying development efforts.

The token posted an intraday high of $3.04 before falling sharply to a low of $2.76 during the 13:00 UTC hour on July 23. Trading volumes surged to 14.19 million tokens—well above the daily average of 2.89 million—marking one of the highest hourly selloffs for NEAR in recent weeks. The volatility set a clear resistance barrier at $2.84, where bulls repeatedly failed to regain control.

Heavy intraday trading activity between 13:41 and 13:51 UTC saw over 850,000 tokens exchanged per minute, reinforcing the vulnerability of support near $2.76. While NEAR briefly bounced to $2.80, the recovery lacked conviction and failed to challenge key resistance.

The broader altcoin pullback—triggered by macro uncertainty and profit-taking—continues to weigh on recovery prospects. Analysts also pointed to speculative rotation into newer meme-based tokens, including MAGACOIN FINANCE, as a short-term drag on more established names like NEAR.

Despite the drawdown, some traders remain optimistic due to NEAR Foundation’s new collaboration with Everclear to develop cross-chain settlement infrastructure. That initiative could provide fundamental support over the medium term, even as the token contends with Q4 development delays and shifting market narratives.

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