Market Overview for NEAR Protocol/Tether (NEARUSDT) – 2025-10-23

• NEARUSDT experienced a bearish 24-hour decline, closing near intraday lows with moderate volume.
• Price action shows a consolidation phase between $2.15–$2.21, with a key resistance at $2.20 and support near $2.15.
• RSI and MACD suggest oversold momentum, but bearish divergence between price and volume may signal ongoing selling pressure.
• Volatility expanded mid-cycle before stabilizing, and the 20-period MA remains above price, indicating short-term bearish bias.

At 12:00 ET, NEAR Protocol/Tether (NEARUSDT) opened at $2.204 and closed at $2.175 after a 24-hour range of $2.215 to $2.076. The total volume traded was 5,369,807.8 units, with a notional turnover of approximately $11.29 million. Price spent most of the session consolidating between key support and resistance levels amid moderate volatility.

Structure & Formations

Price action over the 24-hour period formed a broad descending channel, with a bearish bias evident from a series of lower highs and lower lows. A potential bullish engulfing pattern emerged near $2.152–$2.157 during the overnight session, indicating short-term buying interest. However, this was quickly negated by bearish pressure, resulting in a key 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level at $2.156 becoming a strong resistance-turned-support. A doji formed at $2.15–$2.152 during early trading, suggesting indecision among market participants.

Moving Averages

On the 15-minute chart, the 20-period and 50-period moving averages (MAs) remained bearish, with the 20 MA sitting above the 50 MA and price below both. The 50 MA acted as a dynamic resistance at $2.18–$2.19 during the morning and early afternoon. On the daily chart, the 50-period and 200-period MAs continue to trend lower, with price still below the 200 MA, indicating a medium-term bearish bias.

MACD & RSI

The 15-minute MACD remained bearish, with the histogram contracting as price approached $2.15–$2.16 and showing a possible bottoming sign. RSI reached an oversold level near 30 during the overnight session but failed to produce a strong reversal, suggesting ongoing bearish sentiment. A potential RSI divergence could signal a short-term bounce, but further bearish confirmation would likely see a retest of $2.146.

Bollinger Bands

Volatility expanded significantly during the mid-session sell-off, with Bollinger Bands widening from $2.15–$2.19 to $2.076–$2.153. Price spent the final hours of the session trading closer to the lower band, indicating a period of consolidation. A potential contraction may follow, which could precede a breakout attempt.

Volume & Turnover

Trading volume peaked during the mid-day sell-off at $2.176–$2.152, with the largest 15-minute volume spike reaching 1,383,022.2 units. Notional turnover also spiked during this period, reaching $3.03 million in the 21:15–21:30 ET candle, consistent with bearish price action. A divergence between volume and price during the morning consolidation suggests lingering bearish pressure.

Fibonacci Retracements

Applying Fibonacci to the key intraday swing from $2.215 to $2.076, the 61.8% level at $2.156 appears to have acted as a strong support area. A 38.2% retracement at $2.165 also held briefly during the overnight bounce. If NEARUSDT breaks below $2.146, the next Fibonacci level at $2.131 becomes relevant.

Backtest Hypothesis

Given the strong bearish momentum observed today and the repeated failure to hold above key Fibonacci and moving average levels, a simple RSI-based backtest strategy could offer insight into the potential effectiveness of trend-following trades in NEARUSDT. This strategy—triggering long entries when RSI drops below 30 and exits when it rises above 70—could be backtested using a recognized exchange-qualified symbol such as BINANCE:NEARUSDT or Coinbase:NEAR-USD. Once the data feed recognizes the symbol, the backtest from 2022-01-01 to today can be completed, providing a clearer view of how well this momentum-based strategy would have performed in both bull and bear cycles.