Going into the next cycle, I expect the majority of my portfolio to be BTC. Outside of that, ETH and probably no more than 2–3 alts.
Right now, those are $HYPE, $LIT and $NEAR, although that list may evolve over time as new opportunities emerge, including projects that may not yet exist.
Today’s post focuses on $NEAR.
Of all the alts I follow, Near Protocol stands out to me based on its technology, user experience, tokenomics and revenue model.
The token supply is now fully unlocked, meaning there’s no major future vesting overhang. At the same time, the protocol is seeing genuine user growth, generating real revenue, and directing protocol revenue towards $NEAR buybacks.
Then there’s the product itself.
At near.com, users can hold, swap and bridge assets across dozens of chains from a single interface. The complexity of bridges, gas tokens and routing is abstracted away in the background, making it one of the easiest onboarding experiences I’ve used.
If you want to see the protocol in action, nearstats.org provides a transparent, live dashboard showing NEAR Intents volume, routes, fees, TVL and other ecosystem metrics.
On top of that, NEAR has rolled out confidential cross-chain swaps and transfers through Intents. I believe privacy will become an increasingly important theme over the coming cycle, and NEAR already has a meaningful head start in delivering a seamless privacy-focused user experience.
The same infrastructure is also increasingly being built for AI. You can now stake $NEAR to access AI compute and agent services, while chain abstraction and confidential execution provide the foundation for AI agents to transact seamlessly across multiple chains.
Very few alts have a product I genuinely use, understand and can build a bull-run investment thesis around.
For me, $NEAR is one of them.
As you can see on the weekly chart above, price appears to be in the process of building a long-term base. Macro bottoms take time to form, so I’m in no rush.
Personally, over the next 3–6 months I’ll be looking to accumulate within the shaded region, from current prices down towards the yearly lows around $1.00.
If price were to lose that level and begin accepting below it, I’ll reassess the thesis based on the evolving market structure.