NEAR's AI Initiatives Drive Q4 Gains Despite Crypto Market Headwinds

NEAR Protocol, a decentralized, open-source platform for building and deploying blockchain applications, has reported strong gains in the fourth quarter of 2024, driven by double-digit growth in its AI initiatives. Despite facing headwinds in the broader crypto market, NEAR has demonstrated notable resilience through increased activity and strategic developments.

During Q4, NEAR Protocol initially surged, reaching a token price high of approximately $8.19 in December before retracing to around $4.91 by the quarter’s end. This decline reflected a significant drop in market cap, which fell to approximately $5.73 billion—marking a 2.09% decrease quarter-over-quarter (QoQ). Consequently, NEAR dropped ten spots in market cap rankings, now sitting at 21st overall, indicating a performance lag compared to other leading assets.

Despite the challenges in market pricing, NEAR’s revenue, derived from network transaction fees, saw a substantial increase. The revenue grew to about $2.11 million, representing a 26.81% QoQ rise. This growth can be attributed to heightened transaction volumes and decentralized exchange (DEX) activity. The average transaction fee during the quarter was roughly $0.0031, a 15.91% increase from the previous quarter, further highlighting the network’s operational efficiency.

The NEAR token plays a multifaceted role within the ecosystem, being essential for staking, transaction fees, and storage fees. The protocol maintains a flexible supply model, characterized by an annual inflation rate of 5%. Of the inflationary rewards, 90% are allocated to validators, while the remaining 10% supports the protocol’s treasury. As of the end of Q4, approximately 95.12% of NEAR’s total supply was in circulation, with about 49.08% actively staked. The annualized nominal yield from staking was reported at around 8.95%, with a real yield of 4.55%, providing attractive incentives for holders to stake their tokens.

NEAR enjoyed a surge in address activity and transaction volume during Q4. The average daily active returning addresses rose by 15.82% QoQ, reaching 3.55 million, while the average daily new addresses surged by 29.05% to 3