The highly scalable blockchain Near Protocol and its underlying asset enjoyed a significant surge in December. Coming from a monthly low of about $6, the NEAR token is now trading at $14.24, near its all-time high north of $16.

The most recent increase may be attributed to various protocol advancements, including the introduction of a sharding function and the inclusion of Terra’s dollar-pegged stablecoin, UST. It’s developed with a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus method, which makes the network more ecologically friendly. Near is also experimenting with “sharding” with a native upgrade dubbed Nightshade. Sharding increases the scalability of a blockchain network by generating numerous parallel chains that distribute the effort of processing transactions and activities.

Key Takeaways (NEARUSD)

• Users will be able to bridge assets straight from Terra to Aurora via supported chains thanks to a collaboration between Terra, NearPad, and Rose.
• “Stablecoins like UST provides a straightforward interface for storing wealth and interacting with apps that require a steady unit of account,” NEAR Co-founder Illia Polosukhin explained.
• Meanwhile, NEAR (NEAR-USD) has a market valuation of $8.50 billion, making it the 25^th largest cryptocurrency.
• Co-Founder of NEAR Illia Polosukhin said: NEAR has been built for simplicity, security, and scalability. Stablecoins like UST provide a simple interface to store value and interact with apps that need to use a stable unit of account.

Price Analysis of NEARUSD

Fear & Greed Index: 41, Fear

All-time High: $16.39

ROI: 1078.99%

7d change: 62.10%

Market Cap: $8,509,331,794

Circulation Supply: 598,799,511 NEAR

Total Supply: 1,000,000,000 NEAR

Daily Chart Breakdown of NEARUSD

Source: TradingView

After a strong rejection candle from the all-time high in mid-December, the market had a few days of consolidation that was followed by a sharp rally towards the highs. The market had two consecutive bear days after the bearish divergence. Buyers expect this correction to end near $12.

4h Chart Breakdown of NEARUSD

Source: TradingView

The price made bearish divergence on the 4h time frame as well, which resulted in a sharp decline. We don’t see the selling pressure slowing down any sooner than $12.

1 Hour Chart Breakdown of NEARUSD

Source: TradingView

The market broke below 1h support of $14.55 aggressively and then had a restest of the level and failed to push above. In this case scenario, we expect a further downward correction.

Final Thoughts

Near Protocol has gained massive popularity and confidence in such a little time. The platform has again proved itself by collaborating with other giants in the industry. But, will these ventures and collaborations help NEAR grow in terms of value in 2022? We’ll have to wait and see.