Near Protocol Price Forecast: NEAR extends rebound as Ethereum revives AI economy buzz

NEAR Protocol shifts focus to AI agent infrastructure

Near Protocol is among the projects leading the on-chain AI economy, having branded itself "the blockchain of AI." The ecosystem has developed products, such as Shade Agents, which enable autonomous bots to access and interact with various blockchains while ensuring data remains private.

According to Alex Shevchenko, the former NEAR Protocol product manager and current CEO of Aurora Labs, "the traditional financial system is not suited for AI agents, so there is a high chance that crypto would enable the AI economy. Another use case is AI research."

AI continues to shape the futures of many sectors globally and ecosystems like Near Protocol are charting the path for decentralized AI networks and agents through confidential machine learning.

The largest smart contracts platform, Ethereum, recently a dedicated team to support the development of the AI economy and a decentralized AI stack on the network.

"Ethereum makes AI more trustworthy, and AI makes Ethereum more useful[…]. Ethereum benefits by becoming that layer, and AI benefits by escaping lock-in to a few centralized platforms," Davide Crapis, the AI lead at the Ethereum Foundation, stated.

Technical outlook: Near Protocol extends bullish momentum

Near Protocol bulls remain largely in control at the time of writing on Friday, although the price has pulled back from its intraday high of $3.34. The breakout was built on strong macro signals following the United States (US) Federal Reserve's (Fed) 25-basis-point interest rate cut to a range of 4.00% to 4.25%. Additionally, buzz around the AI economy in the cryptocurrency sector has helped.

The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator's buy signal, which has been sustained since September 8, underpins the bullish outlook. Investors are likely to increase their exposure with the blue MACD line holding above the red signal line.

The 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) at $2.64 is on the verge of confirming a Golden Cross pattern if it settles above the 100-day EMA at $2.62. A Golden Cross is a bullish pattern, indicating improving risk-on sentiment. Therefore, its presence on the daily chart could strengthen the bullish case for NEAR and increase the potential for the uptrend to extend to $3.38, the next key resistance level.

NEAR/USDT daily chart

Still, traders must be cautious, as the Relative Strength Index (RSI) is positioned in the overbought region at 72. An extremely overbought RSI is often a precursor to sudden pullbacks as investors book profits, which can contribute to potential selling pressure. Hence, there's a need for traders to prepare for the possibility of a correction to the 200-day EMA at $2.86, the 50-day EMA at $2.64 and the 100-day EMA at $2.62.

Cryptocurrency prices FAQs

How do new token launches or listings affect cryptocurrency prices?

Token launches influence demand and adoption among market participants. Listings on crypto exchanges deepen the liquidity for an asset and add new participants to an asset’s network. This is typically bullish for a digital asset.

How do hacks affect cryptocurrency prices?

A hack is an event in which an attacker captures a large volume of the asset from a DeFi bridge or hot wallet of an exchange or any other crypto platform via exploits, bugs or other methods. The exploiter then transfers these tokens out of the exchange platforms to ultimately sell or swap the assets for other cryptocurrencies or stablecoins. Such events often involve an en masse panic triggering a sell-off in the affected assets.

How do macroeconomic releases and events affect cryptocurrency prices?

Macroeconomic events like the US Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates influence crypto assets mainly through the direct impact they have on the US Dollar. An increase in interest rate typically negatively influences Bitcoin and altcoin prices, and vice versa. If the US Dollar index declines, risk assets and associated leverage for trading gets cheaper, in turn driving crypto prices higher.

How do major crypto upgrades like halvings, hard forks affect cryptocurrency prices?

Halvings are typically considered bullish events as they slash the block reward in half for miners, constricting the supply of the asset. At consistent demand if the supply reduces, the asset’s price climbs.