NEAR Protocol Surges as ZEC and NEAR Gain Alternative Status
NEAR Protocol (NEAR)
Editor:
Eugene Serbin
cryptocurrency.com.tr reports that Zcash and NEAR Protocol have emerged as two of crypto’s strongest alternative trades in 2026. Bankless co-founder David Hoffman believes this move is driven by investors moving some capital away from Bitcoin and Ethereum toward assets with stronger return.
How the market reacted
Whalio's own Binance spot order flow for NEAR, measured when this story was written up on 24 September 2026. Not the outlet's figures.
NEAR Protocol is currently trading at $4.33 with a 24-hour spot volume of $544,327,686. The 1-hour buy ratio is 55.8%, which is higher than the 24-hour ratio of 50.6%, indicating that buying pressure is building in the short term. A buy ratio above 50% means that buy orders are outnumbering sell orders. The 1-hour volume delta is +$546,502, showing that buyers are currently absorbing more volume than sellers. This positive delta suggests immediate bullish momentum is stronger than the broader 24-hour average.
The latest daily buy ratio of 50.8% sits at the 68th percentile of the last 323 days, against a median of 49.7% - ordinary for this coin.
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, NEAR saw a 65.3% price increase and a 7-day average buy ratio of 50.5%. Today's 24-hour buy ratio of 50.6% is only 0.1 points higher than the weekly average, suggesting the current day is ordinary in terms of buying balance. However, the 24-hour spot volume of $544,327,686 is 2.20 times the average volume, making this an unusually active day for the coin. Net buying occurred on 5 of the past 7 days, with a total volume delta of +$24,386,767 over that period.