NEAR’s rally above $3.90 has brought a token-unlock test into focus after the network’s privacy incentive program reached its first participation milestone. The NEAR@3.33 campaign, launched by NEAR in June, issued restricted reward tokens to qualifying users after assets held in near.com privacy accounts passed $70 million on Sept. 17. Those tokens convert into tradable NEAR only if the token’s three-day volume-weighted average price reaches at least $3.33.
NEAR rose from roughly $2.30 to more than $3.90 during the week ending Sept. 20, according to price levels cited in the campaign materials, a peak advance of more than 50%. The token traded above $3.33 for two consecutive days beginning Sept. 18, leaving Sept. 20 as the final day in the three-day pricing window described by NEAR’s program rules.
A successful conversion would release rewards from the first 333,333-NEAR distribution pool, which was valued at about $1.11 million using the campaign’s $3.33 reference price. The outcome depends on the volume-weighted average rather than whether NEAR merely remains above the threshold at one point during the final session, making trading volume as relevant as the spot price.
Privacy campaign moves to reward calculation
NEAR introduced the NEAR@3.33 initiative to encourage use of privacy functions available through near.com. The first distribution pool was unlocked after assets in privacy accounts reached the program’s $70 million target, triggering the Sept. 17 snapshot.
Eligibility required users to hold more than $100 in privacy assets continuously at the time of the snapshot and complete at least one private swap. NEAR’s terms say allocations will reflect three factors: how long assets were held, the value held in privacy accounts, and trading activity. No wallet can receive more than 2% of the reward pool.
Recipients initially receive non-transferable NEAR@3.33 milestone tokens. Each token converts one-for-one into NEAR only after the three-day VWAP condition has been met. That structure ties the reward event to sustained market pricing rather than a single short-lived move, while also delaying any immediate sale of rewards until the condition is satisfied.
The arrangement creates a potentially sensitive market moment. If conversion occurs, recipients would gain access to liquid NEAR, adding a new source of available supply after a sharp weekly gain. The campaign’s wallet cap limits concentration in the distribution, though the eventual market effect would depend on how many eligible accounts receive rewards and whether recipients choose to sell, hold, or use the tokens elsewhere in the NEAR ecosystem.
near.com expands beyond the NEAR chain
The reward campaign has coincided with a series of product releases built around NEAR Intents, a system designed to make cross-chain transactions feel less dependent on individual bridge interfaces and token-routing decisions.
Under the Intents model, a user specifies the asset they want to provide and the asset they want to receive. Market makers, sometimes called solvers, compete to fulfill that request through available routes. The design shifts route selection into the background and can combine swaps and cross-chain settlement in one request.
NEAR says its 1Click API, which provides access to the Intents system, is connected to more than 30 public blockchains and has processed more than $30 billion in cumulative cross-chain transaction volume. The protocol charges a 0.0001% fee per transaction, according to NEAR’s product documentation, while applications using the API can impose their own service fees.
That fee model gives near.com and other integrations a commercial path beyond token incentives. It also places NEAR’s product strategy closer to transaction routing and settlement infrastructure, where users may interact with assets from Ethereum, Solana, Bitcoin-linked systems, and other networks without necessarily treating NEAR itself as their primary destination chain.
Confidential routing targets swap privacy
NEAR added Confidential Intents to obscure transaction requests, quotes, and execution flow from public mempools. Mempools are the waiting areas where pending blockchain transactions can often be viewed before they are confirmed, allowing third parties to observe intended trades or attempt to transact ahead of them.
Confidential Intents sends requests through a private shard that does not offer a public RPC endpoint or block explorer, according to NEAR. A completed transfer can still settle to a user-specified address on a public blockchain, preserving an auditable destination while limiting visibility into the route and quotation process.
Zodl has integrated the system for swaps into ZEC, the native asset of Zcash. The integration allows users to route assets including BTC, USDC, and Solana-based tokens into a ZEC privacy pool. The service is intended to provide a cross-chain path to Zcash privacy addresses without requiring users to first transfer funds through a centralized trading venue.
The privacy model has practical limits. It obscures the request and routing process rather than making every stage of every connected network permanently invisible. Public-chain settlement remains visible where it occurs, and users must rely on the security assumptions of the routing and privacy infrastructure involved.
Hyperliquid access adds derivatives activity
near.com also added access to Hyperliquid perpetual futures in June, offering more than 50 markets with leverage of up to 40x, according to NEAR. Perpetual contracts are derivatives that allow traders to take long or short positions without a fixed expiry date.
The interface accepts deposits from more than 30 blockchains. NEAR Intents converts incoming assets into USDC, the margin asset used by Hyperliquid, before crediting a user’s trading account. Near.com can earn a front-end service fee through Hyperliquid’s Builder Code mechanism when users place trades through the interface.
A privacy mode added on Sept. 17 focuses on concealing the deposit route into a Hyperliquid account. Orders and positions remain recorded on Hyperliquid, meaning the feature is aimed at reducing visibility around funding flows rather than hiding derivatives activity itself.
NEAR’s longer-term roadmap also includes components for AI-agent transactions: private AI inference, IronClaw trusted execution environments, Chain Signatures for cross-chain authorization, and Intents for asset conversion and settlement. That effort remains earlier in development than the cross-chain routing product, which NEAR says has already handled more than $30 billion in volume.
For now, the immediate issue is the NEAR@3.33 conversion test. A passing VWAP would complete the first reward milestone as near.com attempts to turn privacy tools, cross-chain swaps, and derivatives access into recurring transaction activity rather than a one-time incentive-driven surge.
Curious how AI-driven strategies might trade NEAR-like volatility? Explore automated insights with AI copy trading today.
Disclaimer: The content on this page is provided for general informational purposes only and does not represent the views or financial advice of Toobit. We make no guarantees regarding the accuracy or completeness of this information and shall not be held liable for any errors, omissions, or outcomes resulting from its use. Investing in digital assets involves risk; users should independently evaluate their financial situation and the risks involved. For further details, please consult our Terms of Service and Risk Disclosure.
