NEAR Protocol (NEAR) is the second-best-performing cryptocurrency among the top 30 by market cap in the last 24 hours. The token is up 7.59% to trade at $2.51 following the attainment of the “NEAR@3.33” Milestone.
Why is NEAR’s price up today?
NEAR Protocol rewards ecosystem growth by airdropping NEAR tokens to eligible users whenever its total value locked (TVL) attains a pre-set landmark.
This time, however, the airdrop exclusively focused on the network’s privacy-focused cross-chain pipeline known as the Confidential Intents. Dubbed the “NEAR@3.33” Milestone Incentive Program, the scheme was designed to automatically distribute 333,333 locked and non-transferable NEAR@3.33 tokens once the confidential transactions pipeline hit a $70 million TVL.
At press time, Near Protocol had surpassed the set target, with TVL growing 129.3% in the past 90 days to hit $70.79 million.
Source: Near Revenue Dashboard
Near has now called on its users to claim the NEAR@3.33 token airdrops on its official website.
Eligible users must have maintained a balance above $100 and successfully executed at least one confidential swap. Those with earlier activity, higher balances, and more swaps will receive higher allocations than those without.
Notably, NEAR@3.33 tokens will be redeemable for NEAR tokens at a 1:1 ratio once NEAR’s volume-weighted average price (VWAP) holds at or above $3.33 for three consecutive days. The unlock conditions are meant to prevent wash trading and short-term speculation, while promoting network and token value growth.
NEAR price action
Other than the TVL milestone, Near Protocol is one of the first major layer-1 blockchains to become partially quantum-proof.
At $2.51, NEAR is trading above the $2.44 Fibonacci support. Should it rise above this level, it could retest the $2.65 resistance zone. A break below the support could pull it back to $2.25, with a deeper correction potentially dragging it to $2.00.
Source: CoinMarketCap
Another event that could affect future price action is today’s Fed interest rate hike of 25 basis points.