On May 28, 2025, the 1-hour chart of NEAR/USDT on Binance created a bearish flag pattern.
A bearish flag pattern forms when the price drops sharply, then consolidates upward inside two parallel lines before continuing downward.
If this pattern confirms, NEAR could drop 11% from the current price of $2.822 to the projected target of $2.509.
The chart shows a steep decline that formed the flagpole, followed by an upward-sloping channel. This channel signals temporary recovery but often leads to another leg down. The price now trades below the 50-period Exponential Moving Average (EMA), which stands at $2.830 and acts as dynamic resistance.
The breakdown would confirm if NEAR closes below the lower trendline of the red channel with higher volume. Currently, volume remains moderate at 546,250, but any spike on a red candle would validate the move.
If confirmed, this setup favors further decline toward the $2.509 support area, marked by the blue horizontal line. This target reflects the full height of the flagpole projected downward from the breakdown point.
NEAR RSI Dips Below Signal Line, Weak Momentum Builds
On May 28, 2025, the 1-hour Relative Strength Index (RSI) chart for NEAR/USDT showed a reading of 47.19. The RSI had recently crossed below its 14-period moving average line, which stands at 51.06.
The Relative Strength Index measures price momentum on a scale from 0 to 100. A value below 50 indicates weakening bullish pressure, while a drop under 30 signals oversold conditions.
Currently, NEAR trades below the neutral 50 mark, showing sellers have taken control. The RSI’s crossover below the moving average line confirms a bearish signal. It adds weight to the earlier flag breakdown observed on the price chart.
As the RSI moves sideways and below the average line, momentum remains weak. Unless the RSI rebounds above 50 with strength, downward pressure may continue in the short term.
NEAR Rolls Out Global Contracts With Nearcore 2.6 Upgrade
On May 28, 2025, NEAR Protocol Co-Founder Illia Polosukhin announced the launch of Nearcore 2.6, introducing Global Contracts—a key update designed to simplify development across the NEAR blockchain’s sharded architecture.
Polosukhin explained that before the upgrade, smart accounts needed enough balance to cover storage costs. This requirement forced developers to deploy the same contract multiple times across different shards. The Nearcore 2.6 update removes that friction by enabling contracts to operate across all shards with a single deployment. As a result, developers now avoid duplication, reduce operational complexity, and save time.
Global Contracts offer significant cost reductions. Early tests shared by community member @slimedrgn showed that deploying smart wallets for one million users cost only 59 NEAR, plus 20 NEAR for updates—demonstrating over 100x cost savings for standard contracts like multisigs and tokens.
Beyond cost efficiency, Nearcore 2.6 also reduces block time from 1 second to approximately 600 milliseconds. This upgrade speeds up transactions and improves responsiveness, which can support more advanced, real-time application use cases.
Modular Ecosystem Gains and Ongoing Challenges
The upgrade solves shard communication problems by introducing universal contract identifiers. Now, any account can link to a shared contract from any shard without needing manual inter-shard messaging. Developers can build using standardized modules, similar to importing libraries. These contracts remain immutable after deployment, ensuring logic consistency and fewer integration issues across decentralized applications.
This shared structure supports faster onboarding, modular development, and long-term ecosystem stability. However, governance challenges remain. It is still unclear who should maintain and update shared contracts. Some community members propose using NEAR-native decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) to approve upgrades.
Security also stays in focus. Since many apps may depend on a single contract, any flaw could have wide-reaching effects. Developers will need formal verification and regular audits to prevent vulnerabilities. Because the contracts are immutable, teams must rely on proxy patterns or modular upgrades to push future improvements.
With this move, NEAR joins a broader industry shift toward accessibility and reduced friction. Polosukhin emphasized that the network’s design now prioritizes inclusive tools for both developers and users, laying the groundwork for wider adoption.
Bitwise Files for NEAR ETF, Aiming to Expand Institutional Access
Bitwise has filed a new application to launch a spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) focused on NEAR Protocol. According to the official filing dated May 27, 2025, the proposed product seeks to provide institutional and retail investors with direct exposure to NEAR without requiring them to hold the token directly.
The ETF aims to track the price of NEAR as closely as possible by holding the underlying asset in secure custody. Bitwise confirmed that the fund will store NEAR tokens using regulated, insured custodians. This filing joins a broader wave of crypto-based ETF applications, following recent approvals of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs in major markets.
Bitwise stated that the ETF will improve market access, especially for investors restricted by regulatory or custodial limitations. The firm also emphasized that such instruments can reduce operational risks and lower barriers for institutional entry into NEAR Protocol.
While the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not yet approved a NEAR-based ETF, this move signals growing demand for broader crypto exposure through traditional financial products. Bitwise’s application reflects increasing confidence in NEAR’s long-term utility and infrastructure, especially after the recent Nearcore 2.6 upgrade that introduced Global Contracts.
