As the cryptocurrency market shows clear divergence, AI coins have emerged as one of the few bright spots in March. Within this segment, NEAR Protocol currently leads the sector in trading volume.
However, NEAR’s price remains more than 90% below its previous cycle peak and over 80% below last year’s high. New catalysts may help support the token’s recovery.
AI Coins Lead the Market, NEAR Leads AI Coins in Volume
According to Artemis data, AI Coins have delivered the strongest market performance over the past month. The sector’s market capitalization grew by 23.7%, far outperforming other segments such as DeFi (18.8%) and Smart Contract Platforms (13.3%).
Meanwhile, other sectors, including Gaming, Social, and Privacy Coins, remain deeply in negative territory.
Within the expanding AI Coins category, NEAR Protocol (NEAR) has climbed to the top in 24-hour trading volume, surpassing $317 million. This figure surpasses both Bittensor (TAO) and Render (RENDER).
NEAR trades around $1.35, up 39.4% over the past 30 days.
Investors say a series of positive developments in the artificial intelligence sector has created a powerful spillover effect. Capital has increasingly flowed into tokens that present compelling AI narratives.
NEAR, whose infrastructure is designed specifically for AI agents and cross-chain transactions, appears to be benefiting directly from this trend.
As of March 13, 2026, the NEAR AI Agent Market has recorded more than 747 active agents and over 2,251 jobs created.
“AI will become the interface for everything. NEAR is the infrastructure AI will use to move value,” the project stated.
A March 2026 report from SVRN Research offered a long-term price outlook through 2030. The report estimates that NEAR could range from $25 to $300, depending on broader market conditions under either a bearish or a bullish scenario.
The forecast relies partly on the project’s new tokenomics mechanism, which was activated after the Fee Switch event in February 2026. Under this mechanism, 100% of fees generated from NEAR Intents are automatically converted to NEAR. As a result, every transaction on the platform creates real buying pressure in the market.
In the short term, veteran analyst Michaël van de Poppe suggested NEAR could move toward $2.
Despite a relatively positive short- and long-term outlook, the cryptocurrency market remains highly volatile, and investor sentiment remains dominated by fear.
Although NEAR’s price has recovered more than 50% from its February low, it still remains over 90% below its all-time high. The path to recovery may not be easy for holders who bought at significantly higher prices.
At the same time, the AI industry is changing at an unprecedented pace. Only projects that demonstrate real-world use cases are likely to survive and continue growing.
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