10 Worst Performing Altcoins in 2025

6. NEAR Protocol (NEAR)

Market Cap as of February 21 2025: $4.21 Billion

Year to Date Drop: 29.15%

NEAR Protocol (NEAR) is the native token that powers the decentralized layer one blockchain Near Protocol The blockchain network is mostly used in building decentralized applications. The NEAR token powers the network’s transactions, enabling staking and other developer incentives.

The native token has been under pressure since reaching a cycle high of $9 early last year. The token has already dropped by about 29.15% in the year. The selloff has coincided with a significant cryptocurrency market pullback in recent weeks. Amid the sell-off, the NEAR Protocol has moved to strengthen its long-term prospects by providing a new way of conducting transactions between artificial intelligence and the real world.

Consequently, it has set out to simplify the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) experience by supporting multi-chain transactions. The push puts it in direct competition with Ethereum, which accounts for 45% of the market share in the segment.