NEAR Rally Relies on Intents Fees and Opaque SwapKit Flow
NEAR has nearly doubled in a week and is up 178% since mid-August, driven by privacy perpetual contracts and Zcash-related swaps. However, the rally is primarily supported by NEAR Intents fees rather than native blockchain activity.
Since its fee switch was activated in February 2026, NEAR Intents has generated about 85% of NEAR’s revenue, while NEAR’s price has risen 350% since activation. Traditional execution fees have fallen 83%, from roughly $120,000 to $20,000 per week. Delegated, gas-subsidised transactions accounted for 78% of transaction volume in the first quarter of 2026, indicating weaker organic on-chain demand.
The main revenue source is cross-chain swapping. SwapKit represents 35% of Intents volume but 61% of fees. It routes trades among NEAR Intents, THORChain, Maya and Chainflip, meaning NEAR must compete for each quote. NEAR also cannot identify which wallets generate SwapKit’s traffic, creating concentration and transparency risks.
Privacy activity has grown, with Zcash accounting for 9% of Intents volume and the ZODL wallet’s fee share reaching 16%. Confidential Intents deposits rose from $28 million to $131 million, but about half was wrapped NEAR deposited in an incentive programme. Excluding this internal activity, external deposits were approximately $65 million.
NEAR’s AI narrative has not yet produced disclosed revenue, customers or a clear token value pathway. For traders, Intents is a functioning growth engine, but its dependence on SwapKit, quote competition and opaque wallet sources makes the rally vulnerable to changing flow conditions.
Neutral
The market impact is neutral because the article presents both a genuine revenue improvement and significant structural risks. NEAR Intents has become a measurable fee engine, accounting for about 85% of NEAR revenue, while broader blockchain fees across the market have generally weakened. This supports the bullish case for NEAR’s product-market fit and could sustain short-term momentum, particularly while privacy trading and ZEC-related activity remain strong.
However, the revenue base is concentrated. SwapKit generates 61% of Intents fees despite representing 35% of volume, and NEAR does not know which wallets are behind that traffic. Because SwapKit compares NEAR with THORChain, Maya and Chainflip, NEAR can lose flow whenever another provider offers a better quote. Similar concentration risks in crypto markets have previously caused sharp reversals when aggregators changed routing preferences or incentives.
The decline in native execution fees, lower token burns and reliance on subsidised transactions also weaken the fundamental case. The AI narrative currently lacks disclosed revenue and a clear mechanism for transferring value to NEAR holders. In the short term, traders may continue to price in momentum, privacy demand and rising Intents volume, potentially increasing volatility. In the long term, sustained growth will depend on retaining aggregator flow, diversifying fee sources and demonstrating external demand rather than internally incentivised deposits. Therefore, the news is constructive for the product but not decisive enough to justify a clear bullish or bearish market classification.