NEAR Price Prediction: After breaking the range, it may drop another 34%, with $0.97 becoming a key target level

NEAR Protocol (NEAR) has recently shown a clear weakening trend. Against the backdrop of overall crypto market pressure, price risks continue to escalate. Over the past week, NEAR has declined approximately 11.4%, with a drop of 5.7% in just the last 24 hours. During Bitcoin’s brief rebound above $90,000 and subsequent rapid fall back to around $85,700, market sentiment shifted again to a defensive stance, with small and mid-cap tokens like NEAR bearing the brunt.

A single-day correction of over 5% in Bitcoin significantly impacted already fragile risk appetite, causing NEAR traders’ expectations to turn more bearish. Although NEAR futures open interest once increased by 13% on Monday, rising from $122 million to $138 million, spot trading volume and funding rates also temporarily rose, indicating some short-term funds attempting to rebound. However, this momentum did not last, and prices quickly weakened again.

From a medium- to long-term perspective, NEAR has experienced a key technical breakdown. Since March this year, NEAR has been oscillating within the $1.82 to $3.38 range, but in the second week of December, the weekly closing price fell to $1.59, breaking below both the lower boundary of the range and the long-term support at $1.72. This development signals the failure of the range-bound structure and a bearish trend.

Technical indicators further reinforce the bearish outlook. On both weekly and daily charts, OBV continues to decline, reflecting dominance of selling pressure; RSI is also in a downward channel, indicating market momentum remains bearish. Recently, the price retested the $1.82 level but failed to regain it, instead encountering resistance and falling again, confirming that this level has shifted from support to a clear resistance.

In this context, the probability of NEAR continuing to decline from its current position is relatively high. If the downtrend persists, the price could further fall toward the long-term support at around $0.97, representing over a 30% downside potential from current levels. To reverse the overall structure, NEAR needs to regain and sustain above $1.82 with a confirmed breakout.

For traders, the current environment is not ideal for aggressive long positions. If the price temporarily rebounds to the supply zone of $1.7–$1.8, it may be more suitable for trend traders to reassess risks and look for trend-following opportunities. Until a clear trend reversal occurs, NEAR should remain cautious of further downside pressure.