NEAR Treasury Firm CEO Says Buybacks Are 'Still Real,' But Issuance Runs Six Times Higher

Key Takeaways

• NEAR Protocol CEO Sal Ternullo says token buybacks are still real, but the network is issuing more than six times as much new NEAR as those buybacks removed.
• Fees from NEAR Intents used to buy NEAR on the open market, with $1.9 million in purchases over 30 days.
• New NEAR issued over the same stretch came to roughly $13 million.

Market & Token Impact

• The reduction in issuance from 2.5% to 1.6% would cut NEAR's maximum annual issuance to $8 million per month.
• Buybacks at their current rate would cover under a quarter of that.
• The token has more than doubled over the past month, up over 119%.

Broader Context & What's Next

• Ternullo's governance proposal would also reduce staking yields to roughly 3.5% from about 5.4%.
• The reduction in issuance would narrow the gap between buybacks and issuance, but not close it.
• The pitch to institutions remains strong, with Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley saying investors who already own Bitcoin are now asking what other products the firm should own.
• The retail sentiment around NEAR remains in the 'neutral' zone, while chatter around it stayed at 'normal' levels over the past day.
• The retail sentiment around SVRN moved to 'bullish' from the 'extremely bullish' zone, while chatter around it stayed at 'high' levels over the past day.
• The price of NEAR rose more than 2% over the past 24 hours.
• The price of SVRN was down over 3% during midday trade.
• The reduction in issuance and the increase in buybacks could lead to a more balanced ecosystem, but it remains to be seen how the market will react to this change.