As the market prepares for Bitcoin’s halving, NEAR Protocol’s NEAR token has fallen 7% over the last week to change hands at around $7. The dip comes despite market-wide price appreciation for most leading cryptocurrencies.
NEAR Protocol is a Proof of Stake (PoS) blockchain that launched in 2020. It touts its scalability as its unique selling point thanks to its sharding solution, which it calls ‘Nightshade.’ Sharding is a data storage technique that blockchains employ to process transaction cheaper and quicker.
Now, NEAR isn’t the only loser today. Other tokens linked to so-called “Ethereum killer” blockchains are posting marked intraweek losses, including the number one coin in this category, Solana (SOL) and staunch rivals Avalanche (AVAX) and the Internet Computer (ICP).
ICP led the losses after crashing 12% over the week. SOL comes next with a 7-day depreciation of 8% . It currently trades at around $172. Avalanche posted lighter intraweek losses of about 3%.
NEAR’s trading chart gives readers some idea of NEAR holders’ exhilarating and volatile journey over last the three months.
NEAR began February trading around $3. A market-wide rally at the turn of the month then catalyzed a volatile surge, as indicated by well-defined cup-and-handle patterns that plateaued at a staggering $9 in the mid-March before tumbling down to bottoms of around $6—a strong recent psychological support level for the token.
Source: TradingViewA Relative Strength Index (RSI) of 50 indicates that the seesaw price movements are in check today. Price movements in the last fortnight suggest the token could find support at its present level, although with Bitcoin’s halving dropping in the middle of the month, NEAR Protocol could very well climb another leg higher.
The Halving Is Near
All crypto fans are looking forward to the Bitcoin halving on April 20, because historically the quadrennial event has led to market-wide bull runs.
That’s the date when Bitcoin mining rewards get cut in half, bottlenecking the issuance of new Bitcoin at a time when spot market ETFs have created new institutional demand and driven the asset to exceed its performance during its 2021 bull run.
There have only been three halvings since Bitcoin launched in 2009, but a pattern has emerged: halvings have always preceded bull runs.
At today’s price of over $70k, the world’s favorite cryptocurrency has outdone its seminal 2021 bull run and fans are eager to set a new high watermark this year.
They believe the halving will set off a potent mix of industry FOMO and optimism that will attract many investors in the coming months. Some more blockchain savvy than others.
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