Why is NEAR going up today: price analysis and key drivers
NEAR rose around 11% in 24 hours, trading around $3.23, with 18% weekly and 31% monthly gains.
Overall, the crypto market has remained relatively stable today, despite some altcoins showing strong performance, while Bitcoin continues to trade in a range of $116,500 to $118,000. NEAR, the native token of the NEAR Protocol, is among the top gainers.
So, why is NEAR up today?
Key points
- NEAR’s staking program increases user participation
- NEAR benefits from the US SEC’s crypto listings updates
- Binance confirmed support for a NEAR network upgrade
24-hour NEAR price performance. Source: TradingView
NEAR’s NPRO staking initiative drives activity
On September 15, 2025, NEAR Protocol launched its NPRO pre-staking initiative, inviting over 2 million users to stake NEAR tokens and earn NPRO rewards. The introduction of NPRO has positively impacted NEAR's price, as it incentivizes user engagement and strengthens the ecosystem's growth. Recent updates show the app is approaching 1 million downloads.
US ETF rule changes lift altcoin demand
The US SEC’s simplified rules for crypto ETF listings are among the reasons NEAR has risen. These reforms approve generic listing standards that allow exchanges to list certain commodity-based funds, explicitly including digital assets, without submitting each product for a separate review.
At the same time, a wave of staking ETPs is being listed on various exchanges. Issuers like 21Shares, CoinShares, and Bitwise have launched staking ETPs for a variety of cryptocurrencies, including Near Protocol (NEAR). The new regulatory developments have boosted optimism and helped explain why NEAR is up today.
Investor sentiment was also boosted by Bitwise's bold $155 price target for NEAR.
Binance announced support for NEAR network upgrade
On August 18, 2025, NEAR Protocol upgraded its network through a hard fork to make it faster, reduce token inflation, and enhance its interoperability with other blockchains. Binance announced on September 19, 2025, that it would support the NEAR Protocol network upgrade and hard fork, scheduled for September 23, 2025. This demonstrates growing confidence in NEAR and makes it easier for users to interact with the improved network.
NEAR Protocol, a layer-1 blockchain founded by Illia Polosukhin and Alexander Skidanov in 2017, launched its mainnet in April 2020. In a 2023 exclusive interview with GNcrypto, Polosukhin said the project’s mission is to create a low-cost global payment system. Since late 2024, NEAR has expanded into AI, launching a research hub to develop an open-source model with 1.4 trillion parameters and an early NEAR AI Assistant.
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Web3 writer and crypto HODLer with a keen interest in market trends and recent technologies.
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