NEAR Is Back on Traders' Screens: Intents, AI Privacy, and the Signals to Watch

TL;DR

• NEAR has returned to the market's attention after a sharp relative move: in the latest May 27, 2026 data pull, NEAR was still up roughly 57.5% over seven days and 80.5% over 30 days, while BTC and ETH remained negative over the 30-day window.
• The strongest data-backed reason to keep watching NEAR is NEAR Intents, which recorded about $1.65 billion in 30-day volume and $2.88 million in 30-day fees in DefiLlama data.
• The key risk is that NEAR's AI and privacy narrative is still ahead of disclosed adoption metrics, while derivatives activity is meaningful enough that traders should separate durable demand from leveraged momentum.

NEAR Key Data Snapshot

Source: CoinEx, Binance; Data as of May 27, 2026. Market and protocol data can change quickly.

Why NEAR Is Back On Traders' Screens

The first reason NEAR deserves renewed attention is relative performance. From April 28 to May 27, CoinEx Market data showed NEAR rising from about $1.36 to $2.54, while BTC fell by about 2.0% and ETH fell by about 10.0%. According to CoinGecko NEAR's daily trading volume also expanded from roughly $130 million to about $1.24 billion across the same window.

This does not prove the rally is sustainable. It does show that NEAR is no longer trading like a passive beta asset in this window. For traders, that makes the next question more practical: which signals can help distinguish a durable repricing from a short-term narrative trade?

CoinEx Research's answer starts with product activity. NEAR's current market story is not only about "AI." It combines three layers: NEAR Intents as measurable transaction infrastructure, Confidential Intents as a privacy and agent-payment narrative, and NEAR AI as a private inference capability. Each layer matters, but each has a different evidence standard.

Three NEAR Fundamentals To Track

NEAR Intents: The Strongest Measurable Signal

NEAR Intents is the most data-backed part of the thesis. DefiLlama data collected on May 27 showed about $92.3 million in 24-hour DEX volume, $437.0 million over seven days, $1.65 billion over 30 days, and $19.17 billion all time. On fees, the same source showed about $111,593 over 24 hours, $603,226 over seven days, $2.88 million over 30 days, and $32.53 million all time.

The daily data adds context. Across the collected 30-day window, NEAR Intents averaged about $57.9 million in daily volume and about $98,300 in daily fees. That is the strongest reason to treat NEAR as more than a pure narrative trade.

The important caveat is value capture. Volume and fees show activity at the product layer, but they do not automatically show NEAR token accrual. Traders should watch whether fee recipients, partner revenue share, treasury flows, solver economics, and NEAR token demand become clearer.

Fee paths should be separated from token-accrual claims.

Source: CoinEx Research, DefiLlama, NEAR Intents fee documentation.

Confidential Intents: Early Privacy Narrative, Limited Metrics

Confidential Intents gives NEAR a clearer privacy angle. The product narrative is simple: cross-chain users, institutions, market makers, and AI agents may want transaction outcomes without exposing routing, strategy, order details, or operational data before execution.

The milestone record is useful. Phase 0 Confidential Intents launch support, Venice's verifiably private NEAR AI integration, USDC payments through Confidential Intents, and NEAR's live Confidential Intents product page all point to a more concrete product direction.

Confidential Intents is milestone-rich but still metric-light.

Source: CoinEx Research, based on NEAR Intents, NEAR AI, and public milestone sources.

For traders, this is an early-stage signal rather than a completed proof point. If disclosed metrics begin to show confidential transaction counts, active confidential accounts, private payment volume, or repeat usage, the privacy thesis becomes easier to track. Until then, it remains a catalyst layer that needs more data.

NEAR AI: Technical Differentiation Still Needs Demand Proof

NEAR AI adds private inference and verifiable execution to the narrative. Official NEAR AI materials describe encrypted prompts and responses, trusted execution environments, cryptographic attestation, OpenAI-compatible completion endpoints, and attestation report endpoints. The Venice integration gives the narrative a named partner example rather than leaving it as a purely abstract architecture.

The capability evidence is stronger than the demand evidence. That does not make the thesis irrelevant. In early infrastructure cycles, capability can attract attention before usage data is fully visible. But for the NEAR token thesis to strengthen, traders should watch for request volume, paying users, recurring partner activity, model usage, agent transactions, and any economic path from inference or agent execution into the NEAR network.

NEAR Bullish and Bearish Signal Table

Source: CoinEx Research

NEAR's Current Setup Is Not Just An AI Headline

The strongest measurable evidence is NEAR Intents volume and fees, while Confidential Intents and NEAR AI add a privacy and agent-infrastructure narrative that is still early. Current futures market-structure data also shows meaningful derivatives participation, so traders should keep separating attention, leverage, product usage, and token value capture.

CoinEx Research's view is that NEAR is in a data-validation phase. The rally has put the token back on traders' screens, but the next stage of the thesis depends on whether Intents activity stays firm, whether confidential AI products disclose real usage, and whether value capture becomes clearer over time.

Disclaimer: This content is for reference only and does not constitute investment advice. Information may be incomplete or inaccurate. Please do your own research; the author assumes no responsibility for losses.