NEAR Protocol's $1.7B Valuation: Is the AI-Crypto Token Priced for a 10–15X Return by 2030? - Blockonomi
by Brenda Mary · BlockonomiTLDR:
Table of Contents
- TLDR:
- NEAR Revenue Growth Signals a Shift in Fundamentals
- NEAR’s Price-to-Sales Ratio Draws Comparisons to Solana and Ethereum
- NEAR generated $15.6M in revenue within the first four months of 2026, signaling strong protocol-level growth momentum.
- The protocol’s 34x price-to-sales ratio sits below Solana’s 40x and far under Ethereum’s 200x, suggesting relative value.
- Analysts project NEAR’s annual revenue could reach up to $585M by 2030, driven by consistent compound annual growth rates.
- With a fully circulating supply and community-aligned token mechanics, NEAR carries no significant dilution risk for holders.
NEAR Protocol is drawing renewed attention from crypto analysts following a detailed revenue breakdown shared on social media. The blockchain project, currently priced at $1.28, carries a market cap of $1.7 billion.
A financial model circulating on X suggests the token may be undervalued based on its current price-to-sales ratio and projected revenue growth through 2030. The analysis compares NEAR to Solana and Ethereum on key valuation metrics.
NEAR Revenue Growth Signals a Shift in Fundamentals
NEAR Protocol recorded $10 million in total revenue before 2026. That figure, if attributed solely to 2025, marks a strong starting point.
In the first four months of 2026 alone, the protocol generated 12 million NEAR tokens in revenue. At current prices, that equals roughly $15.6 million in just four months.
Analyst Michaël van de Poppe posted the breakdown on X, projecting annual revenue could reach between $40 million and $60 million by the end of 2026.
He modeled the growth trajectory through 2030, estimating revenues of $150 million in 2027, $300 million in 2028, and up to $585 million by 2030. These numbers are based on declining but sustained compound annual growth rates.
The compound annual growth rate between 2025 and 2026 sits at an estimated 300% to 500%. Even under bearish market conditions, that pace of growth remains notable. Investors tracking on-chain revenue metrics have started factoring this into their assessments of the protocol.
Van de Poppe noted that NEAR has a fully circulating supply, with token mechanics designed to benefit active community members.
That structural feature removes the dilution risk often associated with protocols that still hold large portions of tokens in reserve.
NEAR’s Price-to-Sales Ratio Draws Comparisons to Solana and Ethereum
NEAR currently trades at a price-to-sales ratio of 34x. Solana sits at 40x, while Ethereum trades at 200x. By comparison, traditional Web2 companies average between 15x and 30x on the same metric. This places NEAR within a competitive range for blockchain infrastructure projects.
Van de Poppe pointed out that companies like OpenAI and Anthropic trade at much higher multiples with considerably less revenue.
That context places NEAR’s valuation in a more favorable light when measured against high-growth technology benchmarks. Crypto markets tend to lag behind when repricing fundamentally improving assets.
If NEAR’s price-to-sales ratio holds steady over the next four years, the revenue model projects a potential return of 10x to 15x.
That estimate does not rely on multiple expansion, only on revenue growth sustaining its current trajectory. For investors focused on on-chain fundamentals, that scenario presents a structured case worth examining.
AI and crypto protocol crossover projects remain largely overlooked by the broader market at this stage. NEAR positions itself at that intersection, which some analysts view as an underappreciated growth area heading into the second half of the decade.