Near Protocol (NEAR) and Zcash (ZEC) have both climbed more than 20% since yesterday morning. Their rallies arrived close together, but each has a different project update behind it. NEAR has
Near Protocol (NEAR) and Zcash (ZEC) have both climbed more than 20% since yesterday morning. Their rallies arrived close together, but each has a different project update behind it. NEAR has reached a milestone tied to its Confidential Intents incentive program. Zcash holders have backed proposed changes to the network’s speed and token schedule. The question now is how much of either price move those developments can explain.
Near Protocol reached a concrete milestone on September 15: the total value locked in Confidential Intents crossed $70 million. That threshold triggered a snapshot for the [email protected] incentive program, with eligible users able to check their allocations through the project’s claim process.
near.com MILESTONE: Confidential TVL has reached $70 million.The snapshot for the [email protected] milestone incentive program has been taken. pic.twitter.com/ER1fYaQCxS
— NEAR Protocol (@NEARProtocol) September 15, 2026
The distinction matters because the incentive is tied to use of Confidential Intents. That feature lets users carry out transactions across blockchains with greater privacy during execution. NEAR Intents handles the process of finding a way to complete the outcome a user requests.
The milestone gives readers a reason to look more closely at Near Protocol during this rally. It does not, on its own, show that buyers purchased NEAR to qualify for rewards. The snapshot has already been taken, and a claim window cannot tell us who bought the token or why.
Analyst Rain connected the NEAR price move to Intents activity and the $70 million milestone. Rain also pointed to an earlier rise from about $1.80 to $2.41 over 2 weeks, followed by a push toward $2.76. That history makes the latest move look like part of a broader recovery in the NEAR price, rather than a rally that began with the claim announcement alone.
NEAR Intents has also recorded more than $28 billion in cumulative transaction volume. That is a measure of activity through the product over time, although it is separate from the $70 million currently locked in Confidential Intents. Rex cited the network’s ability to move assets across more than 30 chains as another reason its infrastructure deserves attention.
$NEAR is the token of NEAR Protocol, a sharded layer 1 built for speed and simple accounts. One NEAR account can move assets across 30 plus chains through Chain Signatures and NEAR Intents, so users state an outcome and solvers handle the rest.Confidential Intents just crossed… pic.twitter.com/KYMhJOBo85
— Rex (@0xRexnftcrypto) September 17, 2026
Near Protocol also describes its technology as useful for AI agents that need to make transactions across networks. That idea may help explain interest in the project, but there is no clear evidence here that AI related buying drove this particular NEAR price increase. The stronger, verifiable link is the timing of the Confidential Intents milestone and the ongoing activity behind it.
The next test for NEAR concerns what happens after eligible users claim their allocations. A continued rise in Confidential Intents activity would give the project a stronger usage story beyond this milestone. A slowdown would make it harder to connect future NEAR price moves to the product’s growth.
Price also needs to be measured against a consistent starting point. The figures circulating for NEAR cover different hours and different stages of its September recovery. A precise daily percentage could mislead readers unless both prices come from the same source and timeframe. The move of more than 20% since yesterday morning is the comparison used here.
Zcash has its own catalyst. ZEC climbed past $1,300 on September 16 and 17 and briefly approached $1,400 as results from a vote on the proposed NU7 network upgrade came into focus.
The reported vote results show 99.9% support for reducing Zcash’s target block time from 75 seconds to 25 seconds. Another 98.9% backed keeping the existing halving schedule. Holders also supported delaying the reissuance of fees collected through the Network Sustainability Mechanism until 2031.
Faster target blocks could reduce the time between new blocks if the change is implemented. Keeping the halving schedule also answers a question about how ZEC issuance should work in the future. Those are meaningful decisions for Zcash, but the vote does not mean the changes are already active on the network.
That distinction is useful when looking at the Zcash price. Buyers can react to a proposed upgrade before it goes live, and the price can change again as implementation details become clearer. A proposed activation date should not be treated as final without confirmation from the project.
ZEC’s longer rise adds context to this week’s move. The supplied market figures put its gain over the past year near 2,500% and place it back among the 10 largest cryptocurrencies by market value. Both figures depend on the exact price and market cap snapshot, so they should be checked together before publication.
Read Also: Dogecoin Price Prediction: This Analyst Isn’t Buying the Recovery Story
Paradigm cofounder Matt Huang has disclosed that the firm owns ZEC and described Zcash as a private complement to Bitcoin. His comments give the project a prominent supporter, though they cannot establish how much buying followed or how much they contributed to this week’s rally.
SatoshiCrypt BITUNIX pointed to the vote, ZEC’s market value and the area between $1,400 and $1,600 as a possible resistance zone. That is the analyst’s view of the chart, not a confirmed ceiling. ZEC would first need to hold its recent advance before a move through that area becomes relevant.
This $ZEC pump is getting stupid now$23B+ market cap, faster block times getting backed, and the Bitcoin-style halving still intactA few months ago this was basically a ghost townNow the coin is moving like it has somewhere very important to be$1,400–$1,600 is the zone… pic.twitter.com/LaHlRjIHRz
— SatoshiCrypt BITUNIX (@SatoshiBitunix) September 17, 2026
A rapid price increase can also attract activity in futures markets. The supplied information, however, does not include liquidation figures that would establish a short squeeze. Zcash’s shielded coins should not automatically be counted as unavailable for sale either. Neither claim is needed to explain why the NU7 vote has become part of the ZEC price discussion.
Both rallies took place around a major US interest rate decision, but the Federal Reserve did not cut rates. Its September 16 statement says it increased the target range by 0.25 percentage points to 3.75% to 4.00%. A claim that easier Fed policy drove NEAR and ZEC higher would therefore get the decision backward.
Near Protocol now has a live incentive milestone and a longer record of Intents activity for readers to watch. Zcash has strong support from holders for specific network proposals, followed by the practical work of putting them into effect. The next question is whether usage and implementation keep pace with what the NEAR and ZEC prices have already done.
Whether NEAR Protocol is a good investment depends on your personal risk tolerance, as it trades around $2.30 with strong growth potential in artificial intelligence (AI) but faces high market volatility and fierce competition.
Can Zec replace BTC?No, Zcash (ZEC) is unlikely to replace Bitcoin (BTC) as the dominant cryptocurrency, though it serves a different and valuable niche.
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The post Here’s Why Near Protocol (NEAR) and Zcash (ZEC) Prices Are Pumping Right Now appeared first on CaptainAltcoin.
