[DigitalToday reporter Jinju Hong] BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes forecasts that Near Protocol's token, NEAR, could rise as much as 20-fold by 2027. He cited demand for privacy-centred fund transfers and an AI agent-friendly structure as Near's strengths, reiterating his bullish outlook.

On May 26 (local time), blockchain outlet Cointelegraph reported that Hayes, appearing on the podcast The Rollup, said Near's intent structure could change how people use existing blockchains. He argued that using Near intents would allow AI agents to move assets privately across multiple blockchains without going through bridges, multiple wallets or distributed liquidity routes.

Hayes said, "Shielded Zcash assets can be sent anonymously to anyone on the internet through Near intents," calling it "a structure that solves both privacy and cross-chain mobility." The market is also producing analysis that Near is seeking to establish itself beyond a simple smart contract platform as a payments and trading infrastructure for AI-based autonomous applications.

He cited Zcash, which has recently surged, as an example underpinning the bullish case for Near. Zcash has risen more than 1,000 percent over the past year, drawing renewed interest in privacy-focused cryptocurrencies. Hayes said Near could be the next asset to benefit from that trend.

Hayes' optimism on Near is not new. In a post published in May, he named Near, alongside Zcash and HYPE, as representative speculative high-return bet assets. In later posts, he described the three assets as a "holy trinity" and has repeatedly stressed his existing view.

The market is showing some reaction. Near's price has risen about 90 percent since Hayes began publicly mentioning the token. Earlier, he made a bullish case for Zcash in 2025 using the phrase "ZEC to $10k," and Zcash then rose more than 350 percent within weeks.

Bullish signals have also been cited in technical analysis. Near is showing price action similar to a rebound phase in 2023 to 2024. At that time, Near rebounded around $0.9 and then rose about 250 percent. A rebound has also appeared at a similar support level, and analysis says the daily relative strength index (RSI) has climbed to around 88, indicating strong buying pressure remains in place.

Moving average trends are also positive. A so-called golden cross has formed, with the 50-day exponential moving average (EMA), a gauge of the short-term trend, crossing above the 200-day EMA, which reflects the longer-term trend. The market interprets this as a signal of a medium- to long-term shift to a rising trend.

In the short term, however, the $3.38 to $4 range is cited as a key resistance zone. The area previously acted as support, but it is now seen as a zone where selling pressure could concentrate. The market believes that if Near breaks above $4, the door could open to further gains toward the $9 to $10 range.

Conversely, if it fails to break through resistance, there is also talk that the scale of a pullback could widen. In that case, the price could retreat to around the 50-day and 200-day lines, and a drop of as much as 45 percent from the current price has also been mentioned. As a result, Near's next moves are expected to hinge on whether it breaks above $4, alongside an expansion in privacy demand.