NEAR climbs 22% weekly as shard expansion lifts Layer-1 momentum

NEAR Protocol rose 6.41 percent to $1.99 as of 11:12 UTC on Sept. 9, extending a 22.04 percent weekly gain as traders weighed network upgrades against broader Layer-1 momentum.

The move follows Near's shard count expansion from six to eight, a 33 percent throughput increase, and the Protocol Version 77 upgrade that added global contract support and Optimistic Block processing, according to Cryptonews' analysis of network data from Flipside Crypto and DefiLlama.

Daily transactions on the Near chain frequently surpass 8 million, with roughly 80 transactions per second processed and peak capacity recorded at 4,135 TPS. Total value locked stands at $218 million across roughly 2,500 active developers, per Flipside Crypto and DefiLlama data cited by Cryptonews.

Technical indicators suggest the rally has room to run. RSI sits below overbought levels and MACD shows a bullish outlook, according to Cryptonews, which projects NEAR averaging $2.06 in 2026 and reaching $3.86 by 2030. The token's market cap of $2.59 billion places it among the top 30 cryptocurrencies.

The surge comes as Near Protocol competes with Solana and Ethereum for Layer-1 dominance. While Ethereum remains the largest smart contract blockchain, Near's Nightshade sharding architecture claims throughput capacity of 100,000 transactions per second, well above Solana's 3,000 TPS, per the project's published specifications. The shard expansion to eight shards represents Near's most significant throughput upgrade since Nightshade 2.0 deployed on mainnet.

The immediate risk is whether the rally reflects genuine network growth or speculative momentum. NEAR's 22.04 percent weekly gain outpaced most major altcoins, and the token remains 90 percent below its all-time high of $20.40 set in January 2022. A failure to hold recent gains could trigger profit-taking, particularly if Bitcoin's corrective phase deepens. Bitcoin traded at $78,134.61, down 0.44 percent in 24 hours, while Ethereum slipped 0.25 percent to $2,479.06, per CoinMarketCap data.

The pattern echoes recent isolated altcoin rallies. Zcash climbed roughly 170 percent in three weeks on the back of Grayscale's spot Zcash ETF launch, a move that F2Pool co-founder Chun Wang attributed to "narrative buying" rather than fundamental triggers. Near's rally differs in that network activity metrics show organic growth, but the token's outsized move relative to the broader market warrants scrutiny.

For investors, the key watch is whether Near can convert its technical upgrades into sustained user growth. The blockchain's top dApps by value locked include HOT Game, Kai-Ching, and Sweat Economy, according to dApp Radar data. Near's next major test is whether Protocol Version 77's cross-chain improvements attract developers beyond the current gaming and DeFi focus, and whether the network can hold support near the $1.90-$2.00 zone as the broader crypto market navigates Bitcoin's corrective phase.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.