Market maker Wintermute (@wintermute_t) has named NEAR Protocol (@NEARProtocol) as a leading beneficiary of capital moving toward AI-linked crypto assets, even as the wider altcoin market wea
Market maker Wintermute (@wintermute_t) has named NEAR Protocol (@NEARProtocol) as a leading beneficiary of capital moving toward AI-linked crypto assets, even as the wider altcoin market weakened. The $NEAR token rose 110% over the past 30 days, according to CoinGecko data cited in the report.
The gain stands in contrast to the broader market. The median altcoin fell 3.7% over the period, and UNI slid 15.8%, leaving 55 of the top 66 large-cap assets in the red. Bitcoin dropped 3.2% to close near $83,000 at the end of week 41.
Wintermute's reading is that investors did not leave crypto altogether. Traders did not stage a massive flight to fiat currency, and instead reallocated capital into technology narratives centered on artificial intelligence. Money that left traditional decentralised finance (DeFi) platforms shifted to AI-linked tokens, with NEAR at the center of that move.
The report points to two drivers for NEAR's rally. The first is the network's support for post-quantum digital signatures. A mainnet upgrade on July 20, 2026 activated ML-DSA-65 signatures under the FIPS-204 standard, according to Coincub. More recently, NEAR said accounts can already use ML-DSA, a signature type built to withstand quantum computers, and holders do not need to move their coins to get the protection, CoinCentral reported.
The second driver is market positioning. Funds that had been shorting NEAR in line with the broader decline were caught in a short squeeze during the rebound, and forced buybacks of short positions added to the gains. Wintermute itself noted that post-quantum signature support and a short squeeze were both cited as causes that it could not confirm, so the exact weight of each factor remains unclear.
The move came during a weak week for digital assets. Bitcoin spot ETFs recorded $679M in weekly outflows and Ethereum ETFs lost $542M, according to figures summarised by Bitbase. The broader decline was driven by the Fed's hawkish stance and rising U.S. Treasury yields.
Wintermute is cautious on the outlook for altcoins. It highlighted stabilizing long-term Treasury yields and a return to net inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs as necessary conditions for a sustained recovery. In the report's words, it would not chase lower-quality alts on anything that resembles a rally. The US September Consumer Price Index report was flagged as an important indicator of whether energy inflation is spreading into core inflation.
For now, NEAR's run shows how selectively capital is moving within crypto. AI-linked tokens are attracting flows while much of the altcoin market, including DeFi names, remains under pressure.
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