As the market prepares for Bitcoin’s halving, NEAR Protocol’s NEAR token has fallen 7% over the last week to change hands at around $7. The dip comes despite market-wide price appreciation for most leading cryptocurrencies.

NEAR Protocol is a Proof of Stake (PoS) blockchain that launched in 2020. It touts its scalability as its unique selling point  thanks to its sharding solution, which it calls ‘Nightshade.’ Sharding is a data storage technique that blockchains employ to process transaction cheaper and quicker. 

Now, NEAR isn’t the only loser today. Other tokens linked to so-called “Ethereum killer” blockchains are posting marked intraweek losses, including the number one coin in this category, Solana (SOL) and staunch rivals Avalanche (AVAX) and the Internet Computer (ICP). 

ICP led the losses after crashing 12% over the week. SOL comes next with a 7-day depreciation of 8% . It currently trades at around $172. Avalanche posted lighter intraweek losses of about 3%.

NEAR’s trading chart gives readers some idea of NEAR holders’ exhilarating and volatile journey over last the three months.

NEAR began February trading around $3. A market-wide rally at the turn of the month then catalyzed a volatile surge, as indicated by well-defined cup-and-handle patterns that plateaued at a staggering $9 in the mid-March before tumbling down to bottoms of around $6—a strong recent psychological support level for the token.

Source: TradingView

A Relative Strength Index (RSI) of 50 indicates that the seesaw price movements are in check today. Price movements in the last fortnight suggest the token could find support at its present level, although with Bitcoin’s halving dropping in the middle of the month, NEAR Protocol could very well climb another leg higher.

The Halving Is Near

All crypto fans are looking forward to the Bitcoin halving on April 20, because historically the quadrennial event has led to market-wide bull runs.

That’s the date when Bitcoin mining rewards get cut in half, bottlenecking the issuance of new Bitcoin at a time when spot market ETFs have created new institutional demand and driven the asset to exceed its performance during its 2021 bull run.

There have only been three halvings since Bitcoin launched in 2009, but a pattern has emerged: halvings have always preceded bull runs.

At today’s price of over $70k, the world’s favorite cryptocurrency has outdone its seminal 2021 bull run and fans are eager to set a new high watermark this year.

They believe the halving will set off a potent mix of industry FOMO and optimism that will attract many investors in the coming months. Some more blockchain savvy than others.

A new incentivized crypto learning platform has dropped today that hopes to fill in the gaps in public knowledge while flaunting an innovative new learn-to-earn model that will no doubt tempt copycats.

Well, 99Bitcoins is not exactly new. Established in 2013 as BitcoinWithPayPal, the site initially featured high-quality primers on purchasing Bitcoin through PayPal. After landing in hot water with PayPal, the site rebranded.

Today, as the team begins a presale for the platform’s native $99BTC token, it brings a long-established community of 700,000 YouTube subscribers, alongside 2 million registered users for its crypto courses. 

Those who progress through the courses, or actively participate in the community, will earn $99BTC directly in their Ethereum wallet.

Holders can redeem tokens for exclusive access to premium content, discounts on partner products and services, and token holder events. 

Interested in the on-chain future of education?

Visit the secure presale website today to Buy 99Bitcoins

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