NEAR Protocol (NEAR) is showing signs of a bullish reversal as its long-term downtrend weakens and price momentum improves. Stronger technical conditions and growing ecosystem activity support the recovery outlook, although declining derivatives participation suggests traders remain cautious about the sustainability of the latest move.

NEAR is the native token of NEAR Protocol, a layer-1 blockchain designed around sharding and a user-friendly account model, and it is used for transaction fees, staking, and governance within the network. At the time of writing, NEAR is trading at $2.31 with a 24-hour trading volume of $454.05 million and a market capitalization of $3.03 billion, according to CoinMarketCap. The NEAR price has declined 3.37% over the last 24 hours.

NEAR Price Breakout Puts $5.91 Target in Focus

Crypto analyst The Boss revealed that the NEAR price has broken above a long-term descending trendline on the daily chart, signaling a potential shift in its broader market structure. The breakout follows an extended consolidation phase in which buyers defended key support, allowing bullish momentum to build and pushing NEAR decisively beyond persistent diagonal resistance.

If the breakout zone holds as new support, the NEAR price could enter a sustained recovery phase, with traders watching resistance around $2.81, $4.02, $4.87, and potentially $5.91. Continued buying pressure and stronger market participation could validate the bullish setup, while a move back below the breakout area would weaken the recovery thesis.

NEAR Derivatives Point to Fading Activity

Coinglass data shows NEAR seeing weaker market participation, with trading volume declining 28.10% to $746.63 million. Open interest has also fallen 9.83% to $573.32 million, signaling reduced derivatives activity. The simultaneous contraction in volume and open interest suggests traders are becoming more cautious, potentially pointing to fading momentum and uncertainty surrounding NEAR's short-term direction.

Bollinger Bands and MACD Point to Strong Reversal

According to TradingView chart analysis, the NEAR price presents a textbook example of a bullish breakout after prolonged consolidation during the summer months. Having reached an August low of $1.48, the price moved up to $2.44590 before retreating to $2.31530. NEAR is touching the upper Bollinger Band at $2.31764 while preserving high volatility and trading well above the 20-day moving average at $1.96358.

Technical indicators also support the bullish trend. The MACD line at $0.12885 remains comfortably above the signal line at $0.07796, with wider green histogram bars indicating strong buying pressure. Even with a recent red daily candle showing some short-term profit-taking, the uptrend would continue as long as the price remains above $1.96.

NEAR Confidential Intents TVL Hits $60M

Data from MSB Intel highlighted that NEAR Protocol's Confidential Intents has reached $60 million in total value locked (TVL), bringing the privacy-oriented project closer to its $70 million target. The remaining $10 million could trigger the Drop 1 snapshot, potentially attracting more focus on user activity and investment.

BREAKING: NEAR's Confidential Intents TVL surpasses $60 million, just $10 million away from triggering the Drop 1 snapshot. pic.twitter.com/01ijYzxrJQ — MSB Intel (@MSBIntel) September 7, 2026

https://x.com/MSBIntel/status/2096907939751870791

The milestone indicates increased focus on private transactions across chains. Confidential Intents is designed to enhance privacy in transaction execution while reducing MEV exposure. MEV, or maximal extractable value, refers to the profits that validators or searchers can capture by reordering or front-running transactions within a block, an issue privacy-preserving execution models aim to reduce. NEAR's push here reflects a broader industry trend, as multiple blockchain ecosystems have been developing privacy-oriented transaction features to give users greater control over on-chain data. Once TVL crosses $70 million, eligible members will be able to receive the milestone payout, making subsequent TVL growth particularly significant for NEAR.

What Happens Next?

NEAR's next moves will depend on whether buyers can hold the breakout range and break above the $2.81 resistance level. Any further advance could put $4.02, $4.87, and ultimately $5.91 in play as targets. Losing the breakout support could undermine the bullish setup, while Confidential Intents TVL reaching $70 million could boost ecosystem activity.

This article contains market analysis and price predictions. These are not guarantees. Crypto markets are volatile. Always DYOR. Not financial advice.