NEAR Protocol Leads Crypto Market Gains Amid AI Infrastructure Surge

The cryptocurrency market has seen significant movements over the past day, with the NEAR Protocol being one of the standout performers. According to data from CoinMarketCap, NEAR has risen by over 21% in the last 24 hours, making it the top gainer among the top 100 cryptocurrencies.

This surge is part of a broader trend where AI and infrastructure tokens are attracting fresh flows. Worldcoin, FET, Quant, and Celestia have all seen significant gains, with some tokens climbing by over 10% in the past day. These tokens sit at the intersection of identity and AI infrastructure and crypto, highlighting how speculative capital continues to cluster around artificial intelligence narratives.

However, not all decentralized exchange (DEX) tokens are performing well. edgeX, a high-performance model for perpetual and spot trading across multiple chains, has fallen by over 7% in the past day. This underperformance comes even as the project promotes full self-custody and no centralized order book.

The NEAR Protocol's surge is also part of its repositioning as a platform for AI-native applications. The team behind the protocol describes it as an execution layer designed to support intelligent agents and decentralized applications. This focus on AI has resonated with investors, who are looking for platforms that can support the growing demand for AI infrastructure.