NEAR Drops Under $5 Despite $5.42M ETF Inflows

Key takeaways

• NEAR dropped 7% on Tuesday to trade near $4.70, adding to Monday’s losses.
• Bitwise’s NEAR ETF pulled in $5.42 million on Monday following three consecutive weeks of capital inflows.
• The recovery outlook depends on reclaiming resistance close to $5.02.

NEAR retreats despite continued ETF buying

NEAR Protocol dropped more than 7% on Tuesday, continuing the previous day’s decline as softening short-term momentum overshadowed ongoing demand through its exchange-traded fund.

At the time of this publication, the token changed hands around $4.70, lingering beneath a tight resistance band close to $5.02.

SoSoValue data shows that Bitwise’s NEAR-backed ETF, NRR, brought in $5.42 million in net inflows on Monday. This influx followed three straight weeks of inflows that surpassed $80 million in total.

While these positive flows highlight persistent interest in the fund, they failed to stop the latest downward price correction. ETF participation serves as a single investment avenue and does not dictate the broader market’s trajectory.

Published on Monday, NEAR’s Q3 2026 report underscored progress in its multichain transaction infrastructure.

Cumulative volume on NEAR Intents surpassed $32 billion, marking an increase of roughly 45% compared to the prior quarter’s reported figures.

Additionally, the protocol disclosed that over $8 million in fees went toward token buybacks.

Meanwhile, the total value locked within its privacy-oriented Confidential Intents grew to approximately $160 million, representing a surge of about 463%.

These metrics demonstrate growing utilization of NEAR’s network infrastructure. Even so, ecosystem expansion and token buybacks do not guarantee an immediate bounce in the market value of NEAR.

Resistance around $5.02 caps recovery attempts

On the four-hour timeframe, NEAR continues to trade below the 50-period Exponential Moving Average of $5.0179 alongside a downward sloping resistance trendline near $5.0261.

Together, these parameters present the primary hurdle for buyers aiming to rebuild short-term momentum.

A decisive move past $5.0261 would reinforce the bullish case, putting the September 28 peak of $5.5780 into perspective. Further up, the psychological $6.00 threshold serves as the subsequent upside objective.

Until NEAR breaches this overhead resistance cluster, any bounces remain vulnerable to selling pressure. On the daily chart, the Relative Strength Index hovers around 50, pointing to muted momentum beneath the neutral midpoint.

The Moving Average Convergence Divergence indicator has also drifted slightly below its signal line, signaling waning upward momentum.

These technical indicators point to a cautious near-term outlook, though they do not signify a complete reversal of the larger upward trend.

NEAR holds above its 200-period EMA situated near $4.5513, keeping a critical technical support level intact.

Should the pullback deepen, the 200-period EMA near $4.55 acts as the initial major support benchmark.

Beneath that, horizontal support at $4.4440 highlights the floor that absorbed selling pressure on October 8. Sustaining this region would validate the sell-off as a routine correction within a broader uptrend.

Failing to hold both support levels would undermine this market structure, elevating the probability of a steeper drop toward the September 19 high of $3.9140.

For the moment, the trajectory for NEAR depends on whether buyers can protect support levels and push past the $5.02 resistance zone, even as network activity and ETF inflows present a supportive backdrop.