NEAR surges 30%+ as Arthur Hayes crowns it a top altcoin, Bitwise reports institutional inflows, and a major scaling upgrade looms!

NEAR token ripped as much as 31% higher in 24 hours, and even after giving back some gains it was still trading up more than 20% on the day around $2.23 — a move that stands out given bitcoin's recent softness. Analysts point to a convergence of catalysts rather than any single trigger.

Arthur Hayes provided the most visible spark, calling NEAR, HYPE, and ZEC "the holy trinity" of altcoins. But former protocol contributor Vadim Zacodil argues the retail bid from Hayes is layered on top of something more structural: Bitwise recently reported "significant inflows" into its NEAR exchange-traded product, signaling growing institutional demand. NEAR co-founder Illia Polosukhin's AI background and the protocol's buyback mechanisms are also drawing fresh attention.