NEAR Protocol Price Drops as $3.8M NEAR Intents Hack Halts Swaps
NEAR Protocol (NEAR)
Editor:
Eugene Serbin
cryptocurrency.com.tr reports that NEAR Protocol fell approximately 8% to $4.91 on Thursday following a $3.8 million exploit. The incident forced the cross-chain trading service to suspend operations while engineers investigated the vulnerability. NEAR Intents attributed the loss to an integration bug within its Omni deposit and withdrawal infrastructure.
The team confirmed it patched the contract flaw and stated it would reimburse affected users in full. This event interrupted a steep rally that had previously lifted the token toward $5.50 during September. NEAR Intents allows users to request token swaps across different blockchains where market makers compete to complete transactions.
Accepted quotes settle through a verifier contract on NEAR according to its documentation. Attention now centers on service restoration and compensation for the affected parties. The retreat raises questions about whether prices will extend toward nearby support levels. The source notes that the service has now halted swaps pending the resolution of the issue.
How the market reacted
Whalio's own Binance spot order flow for NEAR, measured when this story was written up on 2 October 2026. Not the outlet's figures.
Whalio spot data shows NEAR trading at $4.81 with a 1-hour buy ratio of 44.1% and a 4-hour buy ratio of 41.5%. These short-term readings are lower than the 24-hour buy ratio of 45.1%, indicating that buying pressure is fading relative to the broader daily trend. The 1-hour volume delta is -$624,890, while the 4-hour delta is -$3,554,266, showing consistent net selling in the immediate term. Over 24 hours, the volume delta is -$22,264,717 and CVD closed at -$22,398,135, confirming that sellers dominated the flow. Net buying occurred for only 3 of the last 24 hours, highlighting a distinct lack of sustained buyer interest.
The latest daily buy ratio of 51.5% sits at the 77th percentile of the last 322 days, against a median of 49.7% - stronger buying than most days.
Was that an ordinary day?
The same Binance spot measurements for NEAR, averaged over the days leading up to the story.
Over the preceding week, the average buy ratio was 50.3%, making the current 24-hour ratio of 45.1% notably weaker by 5.1 points. This drop in buying interest coincides with a volume that is 1.06x the weekly average, suggesting heightened but one-sided activity. Net buying was recorded for only 3 of the past 7 days, compared to the 8-day price change of +4.7%. The 8-day total volume delta was -$10,873,797, contrasting with the heavier -$22.2 million seen in just the last 24 hours. This indicates that while volume is elevated, the selling pressure has intensified significantly in the most recent period.