NEAR Protocol Crashes 7.9% as Long Squeeze Hits

The NEAR Protocol's price has plummeted by over 7.9% in the past day, falling from $5 to a low of $4.6 before slightly recovering to $4.70.

This drastic drop was triggered by a long squeeze, where investors who had taken leveraged long bets were forced out of the market, resulting in over $20 million worth of longs being liquidated.

The sudden sell-off has left traders panicking and exiting their positions, with the altcoin's Open Interest (OI) dropping 12.3% to $1.4 billion while derivatives volume surged 12% to $2.97 billion.

However, despite the bearish trend, spot market participants seem to be taking advantage of the low prices, accumulating at a discount and providing a lifeline for the altcoin's price recovery.