Hayes: NEAR Could Gain 20x by 2027

Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, projected in a recent podcast interview that Near Protocol’s native token, NEAR, could rise 20-fold by 2027. He tied the forecast to the protocol’s NEAR Intents feature, which Hayes described as enabling private value transfers across chains.

According to Hayes, NEAR Intents let software agents move assets privately across different blockchains without using bridges or managing multiple wallets and fragmented liquidity. He said the same setup can support autonomous applications that execute payments and trades on-chain.

“I can now send any crypto asset I want to anyone across the internet in an anonymous way from shielded Zcash using Near Intents,” Hayes said. He added, “I think NEAR has a 20x potential, where you know Zcash might have a 5x potential over the next year.”

Market data show NEAR has risen more than 90% since Hayes began highlighting the token in May. Hayes previously listed NEAR alongside Zcash (ZEC) and Hyperliquid’s HYPE token as speculative bets in May. His earlier public bullishness on Zcash coincided with large rallies: ZEC gained more than 1,000% over the past year, and an October 2025 statement that labeled ZEC a core holding preceded a multiweek advance that produced over 350% gains.

Analysts cited technical indicators that resemble a prior recovery. NEAR rebounded from a $0.91–$0.99 bounce zone, its daily relative strength index climbed near 88, and a golden cross formed as the 50-day exponential moving average moved above the 200-day EMA (around $1.646 and $1.647, respectively). Short-term resistance sits near $3.38–$4.00, about 35% above current levels; a decisive close above $4.00 could reopen a path toward $9–$10. Failure to reclaim $3.38–$4.00 could prompt a pullback toward the moving averages, a decline analysts estimate at roughly 45% from present prices.

Observers say broader adoption of NEAR Intents for privacy tokens would depend on further technical development, integration by privacy coin networks, and user demand for private cross-chain transactions.