NEAR Slides Toward $1.50 as Derivatives Deleveraging Accelerates
NEAR Protocol extended its decline on August 11, falling toward $1.55 as a sharp derivatives unwind amplified an already weak technical structure.
Summary:
- NEAR fell toward $1.55 after breaking through several short-term support levels.
- Long positions accounted for nearly all of the token’s latest liquidations.
- Open interest retreated after reaching its highest level of the past week.
- U.S. inflation data on August 12 is the next major external catalyst.
The move is notable because leverage had expanded rapidly in the preceding sessions, leaving bullish traders vulnerable once NEAR failed to hold the $1.60 area.
Long liquidations, not short pressure, dominated the latest move
The liquidation breakdown provides the clearest explanation for the speed of the decline.
Over the latest four-hour period, approximately $1.06 million in NEAR positions were liquidated. Virtually all of that came from longs, while short liquidations amounted to only about $9,190.
The imbalance becomes even more pronounced over shorter periods. In the latest hour, roughly $994,950 of longs were liquidated compared with just $262 in shorts.
Across 24 hours, CoinGlass data in the supplied dashboard show:
- Total liquidations: $1.29 million
- Long liquidations: $1.28 million
- Short liquidations: $10,980
- Largest single liquidation: $196,709
- Liquidations versus seven-day average: 3.25x higher
- Peak liquidation period: 17:00-18:00 on August 11
That profile is more consistent with a long-position flush than with short sellers directly forcing the token lower.
Leveraged traders had accumulated bullish exposure while NEAR traded near $1.60. Once the price broke lower, exchanges began automatically closing positions that no longer met margin requirements. Those forced sales added additional supply precisely as regular buyers were retreating, accelerating the decline.
The 3.25x reading relative to NEAR’s seven-day liquidation average confirms that the move was unusually leveraged, although current liquidations remain well below the largest event of the past month.
Open interest shows where the excess leverage came from
The buildup was visible before the selloff.
NEAR futures open interest sat near $334 million on August 8 before jumping to approximately $382 million on August 9 and then exceeding $400 million on August 11, according to the supplied CoinGlass chart.
That represents an increase of roughly 20% within several days while NEAR’s price failed to establish a sustained recovery.
Open interest subsequently dropped toward $387 million as the price fell, an important combination for interpreting the move.
When price and open interest decline together, it typically indicates positions are being closed rather than a large wave of new bearish leverage entering the market. Combined with the liquidation data, the latest decline therefore looks partly like a deleveraging event in which crowded longs are being removed.
This distinction matters for the next move. A derivatives flush can eventually leave positioning cleaner, but that alone does not create new spot demand.
NEAR breaks below every major moving average
The Coinbase four-hour chart from TradingView places NEAR around $1.548, following a large bearish candle that broke below $1.58 and extended the sequence of lower highs visible since early August.
Price is now below all five moving averages displayed on the chart:
- 7-period SMA: $1.594
- 30-period SMA: $1.616
- 50-period SMA: $1.658
- 100-period SMA: $1.675
- 200-period SMA: $1.800
The structure is significant because even the fastest average is now almost 3% above spot price. NEAR would need to reclaim roughly $1.59-$1.60 before there is evidence that the immediate breakdown is being repaired.
The next resistance above that sits near $1.61-$1.62, where the 30-period average overlaps with the consolidation area that repeatedly capped rebounds during August 8-10.
READ MORE: PUMP Jumps 16% as Pump.fun Buybacks Offset Token Supply Growth
RSI has fallen to 32.45, bringing NEAR close to oversold territory without yet producing a reversal signal. The indicator’s own average remains substantially higher at 43.81, reinforcing the speed of the momentum deterioration.
On the downside, $1.54-$1.55 is the first area to monitor. A sustained break would leave the psychological $1.50 level exposed, while recovering $1.60 would be the first meaningful sign that sellers are losing control.
Network buybacks have not been enough to offset market pressure
NEAR’s fundamental token economics provide a counterweight, although they have not prevented the current decline.
The protocol’s revenue system captures part of network fees and routes revenue toward NEAR buybacks that remove tokens from circulation. The official NEAR Revenue dashboard currently shows approximately $2.45 million in gross fees over the past 30 days, with roughly $498,500 in net revenue.
A recent NEAR governance discussion also points to the Intents fee switch, lower inflation and token buybacks as components of the network’s updated economic model.
Those mechanisms can create structural demand over longer periods, but the scale and timing are different from derivatives flows. A sudden $1 million leveraged liquidation event can dominate price action over minutes or hours even while protocol-level buybacks continue in the background.
That explains why improving token economics should not automatically be interpreted as short-term price support.
CPI is the next external test for a weakened altcoin market
NEAR’s decline is occurring immediately before another macro event capable of moving the entire crypto market.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics will publish the July Consumer Price Index on August 12 at 8:30 a.m. ET.
For NEAR, the reaction in Bitcoin and broader risk markets may matter more initially than any protocol-specific development. Altcoins generally carry higher market sensitivity during periods of macro uncertainty, particularly when their own derivatives markets are already being deleveraged.
The setup entering the release is therefore unusually clear. NEAR has already shed a large block of leveraged longs, RSI is approaching oversold territory and open interest has retreated from its weekly peak. A recovery above $1.60 after the liquidation pressure fades would indicate buyers are beginning to absorb the move. Failure to hold the $1.54-$1.55 region after leverage has already been reduced would be more concerning, because it would suggest the weakness is extending beyond forced derivatives selling into broader market demand.
The information presented in this article is intended for informational purposes only and should not be interpreted as financial, investment, or trading advice. Coinspress.com does not promote or advocate for any particular investment strategy, asset, or cryptocurrency project. Cryptocurrency markets are highly volatile and unpredictable – always perform your own research and seek guidance from a qualified financial professional before making any investment decisions.
Kosta Gushterov
Reporter at CoinsPress
Kosta has reported on cryptocurrency markets and blockchain infrastructure since 2020, bringing over six years of hands-on experience in the crypto industry built through daily tracking of markets, trends, and emerging blockchain developments. Specializing in Bitcoin on-chain analysis, institutional ETF flows, and digital asset price action, his work has been cited by other news agencies and consistently covers market developments with a focus on data-driven reporting across Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP. Over the years, Kosta has contributed to multiple crypto media outlets in different regions, authoring over 6,000 articles across the sector. His reporting spans cryptocurrency markets and the broader fintech industry, tracking not only price action but also the technological and regulatory forces shaping the ecosystem. To support his analysis, Kosta actively leverages on-chain data and metrics from leading platforms such as Santiment, Glassnode, and CryptoQuant, enabling deeper, evidence-based market insights. He believes in the power of transparency and the data that underpins the blockchain ecosystem. His academic background in Marketing Management from Denmark further complements his analytical approach, adding a strong understanding of communication strategy and content positioning to his work.
