The NEAR Protocol has seen a tenfold rise in the past year. Can it keep the momentum up?
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Another platform and coin promoted as an “Ethereum killer”, NEAR Protocol has attracted significant attention and exposure since the launch of the token at the end of 2020. With sizable investment from major crypto players including Andreessen Horowitz and Coinbase Ventures, and a ballooning market cap, NEAR Protocol has clearly excited the market. But will this continue in 2022? Or will the bull rally come to an end?
Before looking at a NEAR Protocol price prediction for 2022, let’s have a brief overview.
Overview of NEAR Protocol
A delegated-proof-of-stake layer one blockchain, NEAR Protocol is on a mission to create an ecosystem that is usable, scalable and accessible to society at large. It was designed as a community-run cloud computing platform, and has developed a number of features in an attempt to solve the problems which plague most blockchains: low transaction speeds, blockchain bloat, poor interoperability, inaccessible interfaces and low throughput.
NEAR Protocol uses a type of sharding called Nightshade which, according to the company’s literature, can process 100,000 transactions per second. Compared to Ethereum 1.0 which can only process 15tps and blockchains like Bitcoin which can only process 5-7tps, NEAR Protocol’s technology, if able to deliver in the long term, could be a game changer.
Unlike most blockchains, user experience appears to be a core part of NEAR Protocol's strategy. Instead of having an opaque wallet address, participants have a human readable name. This feature could make blockchain and crypto more accessible and less confusing to non-tech people who want to get involved in crypto.
The mission of the NEAR Collective, as written on the project’s website, is to create an ecosystem that is “secure enough to manage high value assets like money or identity and performant enough to make them useful for everyday people.”
Founders
The project was developed by Illia Polosukhin and Alexander Skidanov in 2017 in San Francisco, California. Skidanov studied computer science in Russia and later worked as a software developer in the United States. Polosukhin studied applied maths and computer science in Ukraine and subsequently worked for, among others, Google as an engineering manager.
While NEAR Protocol’s offering is certainly compelling, how does this affect the NEAR Protocol price prediction? Does the project have legs in the long term?
Let’s take a look at the coin’s past performance.
NEAR coin past performance
The NEAR coin experienced an immediate surge after its launch in 2020, rising from $0.6067 on 2 November 2020 to $4.8093 on 13 February 2021, then rising again to $7.4116 on 13 March 2021.
The NEAR coin price hit a bearish market in the succeeding months, dropping to $1.68 on 20 July. From August, however, the NEAR coin price rose again, hitting $10.37 on 8 September 2021. Despite signficant volatility, the NEAR cryptocurrency reached $12.32 on 25 October 2021. After a brief drop in price to $7.344 on 5 December 2021, the NEAR coin price subsequently reached record highs, peaking at $16.43 on 3 January 2022.
The price of the NEAR Protocol cryptocurrency stood at $15.21 on 7 January 2022.
The NEAR coin has a maximum supply of one billion coins and a circulating supply of 604 million. With each coin currently at $15.21, the NEAR protocol has a market cap of $9.2bn. According to CoinGecko, NEAR coin has gained more than 900% of its value in the past year and more than 100% in the past 30 days.
So how does this information affect a NEAR price prediction for 2022? Or a NEAR Protocol price prediction for 2030?
Let’s look at what the experts think.
Expert opinion
It is important when looking at predictions to remember that while they can be helpful as an indicator of which direction the price may move, they should be viewed as possibilities rather than absolutes. This is especially the case when looking at long-term forecasts, as these can sometimes be completely off the mark. This is because of the inherent volatility of the crypto market but also the many unknowns which could affect future prices.
With this in mind, let’s look at some NEAR Protocol crypto price predictions.
WalletInvestor, in an exceptionally optimistic forecast, thinks NEAR Protocol could surge to $22.34 in a year’s time. The platform’s NEAR Protocol coin price prediction for five years’ time is $55.162.
Gov.capital in an almost outlandish NEAR price prediction, makes a NEAR Protocol price prediction for 2023 of $42.78. The platform forecasts the coin will reach $303.82 in five years’ time.
DigitalCoinPrice, with a more subdued forecast, believes that the NEAR Protocol price for 2022 could be $20.77 before increasing to $24.15 in 2023. The website’s NEAR Protocol price prediction for 2025 stands at $30.88.
Final thoughts
With sky-high forecasts, an ambitious offering and the potential of becoming a real competitor to Ethereum, the future certainly looks bright for the NEAR Protocol future. However, with the crypto sector as volatile and uncertain as it is, a lot remains to be seen both in terms of whether the NEAR technology holds up when demand grows, as well as whether crypto as a sector enters the mainstream. If regulation hits crypto hard or if macroeconomics leads to a dip in valuations all cryptos regardless of their supposed utility, will be affected.
FAQs
Many analysts think it may be a very good investment. However, it is always worth remembering that the crypto market is highly volatile and the price of all tokens and coins can go down as well as up.
Many analysts think the coin will go up, with some experts stuggesting it could to $300 per coin in five years’ time.
However, it is worth remembering that forecasts, especially long-term ones, are better viewed as indicators rather than absolutes.
Investing is a highly personal endeavour. Do your own research and try to keep up to date with any developments within the NEAR Protocol ecosystem that could boost its prospects.
Remember, investing can be risky, and it is important never to invest more money than you can afford to lose.
