NEAR Protocol Token (NEAR) Remains in a Strong Bear Market After Falling by Almost 50% From Its Highest Level This Year

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

Near (NEAR) token price is showing signs of即将recovering from the bear market after falling by almost 50% from its highest level this year.

On Oct. 24, NEAR was trading at $4.62 as Bitcoin (BTC) and most altcoins remained under pressure. But according to Michael van de Poppe, a popular crypto analyst with over 700,000 followers on X, NEAR is set to rally to between $10 and $15. If it does rise to the upper side of his forecast, it would mark a 225% increase from the current level.

This is how van de Poppe sees the upcoming NEAR price rally.

Near Protocol, a layer-1 blockchain network that uses sharding technology to improve performance, has not performed well this year in comparison to other, newer networks.

According to DeFi Llama, NEAR's total value locked (TVL) in the DeFi sector is currently $231 million, down from a 2023 high of $323 million. Burrow, LiNEAR Protocol, Meta Pool Near, and Ref Finance are the biggest dApps in the Near ecosystem.

In comparison to other, newer layer-1 and layer-2 networks, NEAR's TVL is notably lower. For instance, Base Blockchain, which Coinbase launched in 2023, has attracted $2.43 billion in assets. Other networks include Sui with $1.01 billion and Arbitrum with $2.34 billion.

Near Protocol also has a small portion of the Decentralized Exchange market. In its ecosystem, DEX networks handled transactions valued at $26.3 million, making it smaller than chains like Mint, Injective, and Blast.

This performance can be partly attributed to the absence of a meme coin ecosystem on Near Protocol, which has propelled Solana (SOL) to become the largest DEX blockchain in 2023.

On a positive note, Near does handle a significant volume of transactions each week. According to Dune Analytics, it processed 49.2 million transactions in the last seven days, while the number of weekly active addresses rose by 11% to 11.55 million.

Near token approaching a key level

The daily chart shows that the Near Protocol token has consolidated in recent days. It has formed a symmetrical triangle pattern that is nearing its confluence level. This triangle formed during an uptrend, meaning it may be seen as a bullish pennant chart pattern. A pennant is a popular continuation signal.

NEAR has also formed an inverse head and shoulders pattern, which often leads to more upside. For this to happen, Near will need to rise above the 50% Fibonacci retracement point at $5.012 and the 200-day moving average at $4.88.