Key Takeaways
- • NEAR Protocol surged 183% in September 2026, leading Grayscale's AI crypto sector which gained 54%—more than double the broader crypto market's 24% gain—with the token trading above $4 and posting a 151% gain over 30 days as of the reporting date.
- • Grayscale identifies AI as its best-performing category across six major crypto sectors (Currencies, Smart Contract Platforms, Financials, Consumer & Culture, Utilities & Services, and AI), with the AI sector valued at approximately $15 billion despite remaining the smallest category.
- • Other AI-linked tokens showed strong September performance: Venice (VVV) +70%, Worldcoin (WLD) +47%, and Bittensor (TAO) +37%, signaling broad sector momentum beyond NEAR alone.
- • Grayscale Head of Research Zach Pandl highlighted public blockchains as critical infrastructure for AI agent payments, identity verification, and private compute, positioning the sector for potential multi-year growth with "one or more major winners" emerging over the next five years.
- • NEAR's rally occurred despite a $3.8 million exploit affecting NEAR Intents, with retail sentiment around the token remaining in "bullish" territory on social platforms.
Summary
NEAR Protocol led a significant rally across artificial intelligence-focused cryptocurrencies in September 2026, with the token gaining 183% during the month and trading above $4 with a 151% 30-day return. According to Grayscale's research, the broader AI crypto sector achieved 54% gains, more than doubling the general crypto market's 24% advance and establishing AI as the top-performing category among Grayscale's six major sector classifications.
Grayscale's analysis revealed that the AI crypto sector, valued at approximately $15 billion, remained relatively nascent compared to other crypto categories, yet demonstrated significant potential. The firm's Head of Research, Zach Pandl, emphasized that public blockchains serve as essential infrastructure for AI agent operations, specifically citing applications in payments processing, identity management, and private computation. This positioning suggests that despite AI's current small footprint within crypto markets, the sector could produce dominant winners over a five-year horizon.
Beyond NEAR's outsized performance, complementary tokens in the AI space posted substantial gains. Venice (VVV) rose 70%, Worldcoin (WLD) increased 47%, and Bittensor (TAO) added 37% during September, indicating sector-wide momentum rather than concentration in a single asset. The rally's breadth reflects growing institutional and retail interest in cryptocurrency projects aligned with artificial intelligence infrastructure and agent development.
Retail investor sentiment remained constructively positioned around NEAR, with social trading platform chatter reaching high levels despite a $3.8 million exploit affecting NEAR Intents during the period. The incident did not derail the broader narrative around the token's potential as foundational infrastructure for AI agent ecosystems, suggesting that longer-term positioning around the sector's thematic merit outweighed near-term security concerns among market participants tracking the story.
Grayscale's analysis revealed that the AI crypto sector, valued at approximately $15 billion, remained relatively nascent compared to other crypto categories, yet demonstrated significant potential. The firm's Head of Research, Zach Pandl, emphasized that public blockchains serve as essential infrastructure for AI agent operations, specifically citing applications in payments processing, identity management, and private computation. This positioning suggests that despite AI's current small footprint within crypto markets, the sector could produce dominant winners over a five-year horizon.
Beyond NEAR's outsized performance, complementary tokens in the AI space posted substantial gains. Venice (VVV) rose 70%, Worldcoin (WLD) increased 47%, and Bittensor (TAO) added 37% during September, indicating sector-wide momentum rather than concentration in a single asset. The rally's breadth reflects growing institutional and retail interest in cryptocurrency projects aligned with artificial intelligence infrastructure and agent development.
Retail investor sentiment remained constructively positioned around NEAR, with social trading platform chatter reaching high levels despite a $3.8 million exploit affecting NEAR Intents during the period. The incident did not derail the broader narrative around the token's potential as foundational infrastructure for AI agent ecosystems, suggesting that longer-term positioning around the sector's thematic merit outweighed near-term security concerns among market participants tracking the story.
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