TAO, NEAR Lead AI Crypto Market Recovery

Key Insights

• AI crypto coins are turning back upwards, which means that there is strength coming into the AI market and altcoins in general.
• In that case: TAO, NEAR and other AI protocols. About $2.1B of capital was processed in the last 30 days, which is a 3x increase since Oct 2025.
• Altcoins are breaking out of a downtrend that has been in place for six months.

The “ceasefire headlines” have sparked a new dawn in the crypto markets, with most coins rebounding strongly, posting double-digit gains over the past 24 hours. AI crypto coins have been among the best daily performers, pushing the AI market cap to $17.75 billion.

The AI market economy is becoming a dominant force in the crypto markets. Bittensor (TAO), the largest cap in this sector, led the daily gains, followed closely by the second-placed cap, Near Protocol (NEAR).

What Drove AI Crypto Coins Rebound?

The whole AI market sector surged by 5% while trading volume jumped by 60%, reaching $3.91 billion at press time. TAO’s market cap increased 12% to $3.63 billion, while NEAR gained 10% to $1.74 billion.

Other AI crypto coins that recorded significant daily returns were Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET), Render Network (RENDER), and Internet Protocol (ICP), alongside meme coins like Siren (SIREN).

This came as the market saw slight recovery from extreme fear to optimism following a potential breakthrough in ending the Israel-Iran war. Additionally, speculation spiked in anticipation for a TAO ETF. The surge is due to Grayscale filing an amended S-1 for the Bittensor Trust, a step toward an ETF.

Furthermore, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang endorsed decentralized AI training on the All-In Podcast, which drove TAO by 17% that day. During the pullback, volume spiked by 170%, indicating accumulation rather than panic selling, which explains the current surge.

TAO, NEAR Lead AI Market in Daily Gains

Focusing on the two AI market leaders, Michael van de Poppe singled them out in the current crypto market rebound. The seasoned analyst argued they were among the strongest altcoins, as their narrative has rallied in the past few months.

TAO had started to surge after a healthy short-term pullback, during which traders accumulated more. The altcoin bounced off the 20 moving average (MA) after spending two days at the support.

Michael added that as long as Bitcoin (BTC) continued to trade higher, the same could be expected in the AI crypto market. He predicted that if Bitcoin gained between 10% and 15%, the AI crypto coins market could pull a Beta of 4 or 5 on BTC’s returns.

Near Protocol was driven by NEAR Intents, which had integrated all networks. The volume on NEAR Intents hit a new peak of $17.6 billion. The protocol processed $2.1 billion over the last 30 days, which was 3x October 2025’s volume when it went live.

The number of monthly users across ecosystem touchpoints reached 46 million. Technically, NEAR was similar to TAO, which explains why their daily gains were almost the same. NEAR traded above $1.30 as bulls battled to hold the previous lower high on the daily price chart.

Altcoin Breakouts: Is the Momentum Sustainable Now?

With Michael van de Poppe linking this resurgence with the broader altcoin market, it was worth assessing this front. The market cap of altcoins, excluding the top 10 capped coins, had broken above a descending trendline, reaching $179 billion. The breakout level was $171 billion, indicating the cap had increased by $8 billion.

This price action suggested that TAO, NEAR and AI crypto coins were surging in line with the altcoin market cap breakout. Hence, this recovery was not solely dependent on AI market strength but a broader crypto market resurgence.

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