NEAR Protocol Dips 10% Over Alleged Stolen Patented Technology

NEAR Protocol Dips 10% Over Alleged Stolen Patented Technology

NEAR Protocol (NEAR) price plunged about 10% to $4.46 in 24 hours, sharply underperforming a slightly weaker broader market, driven mainly by a competitor’s negative technical allegations.

DFINITY founder Dominic Williams publicly accused NEAR Protocol of using DFINITY’s patented ECDSA threshold-signature technology in its “NEAR Intents” system, alleging it ran on only 8 servers and lacked true decentralisation.

This created a negative sentiment catalyst during the session. The allegations challenge NEAR’s technical integrity and decentralisation narrative, prompting sell-offs among concerned holders.

The market is watching for an official response from the NEAR Foundation or developments in the legal risk. The drop occurred within a weaker market, with total crypto capitalisation down 1.31%.

A sector-wide pullback, not just a coin-specific issue, amplified NEAR’s decline. Technically, NEAR broke below its 7-day ($4.93) and 30-day ($5.01) simple moving averages.

Technical traders said the next major support is the recent Fibonacci swing low at $4.15.

Market analysts explained that if selling pressure continues and this level breaks, the next significant support is the 200-day moving average near $2.80.

A key positive counterflow is continued institutional interest, with NEAR ETFs seeing a third consecutive day of inflows, adding $992,689 on October 23

The short-term trend is bearish, but persistent exchange-traded fund buying could help establish a floor. The $4.15 support level and daily ETF flow data.

NEAR’s sharp drop was triggered by damaging public accusations, then worsened by a risk-off shift across altcoins. #NEAR Protocol Dips 10% Over Alleged Stolen Patented Technology

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