NEAR Plunges on Exploit, but ETF Inflows Limit Damage

A recent security incident in the NEAR ecosystem triggered a sharp selloff of around 7-13% in the token's price. The hack targeted NEAR Intents, a cross-chain trading and payments protocol, with approximately $3.8M stolen on October 1.

The exploit was tied to a bug in the 'Omni' deposit-and-withdrawal infrastructure, which interacted with the smart contract in an unexpected way. The team behind NEAR Intents halted services, patched the vulnerability, and pledged to fully reimburse affected users.

While the hack did not affect the base NEAR Protocol blockchain, it hit a very strong uptrend with stretched sentiment. NEAR had been on a powerful multi-month run since earlier in the year, with a roughly 265% rally from a major trend reversal and a break above a long-term downtrend line.

The launch of Bitwise's NEAR ETF (ticker NRR) just days before the exploit provided some cushioning effect, as it attracted strong inflows of around $35.5M on its first day and over $50M in cumulative inflows by the next day.