NEAR Protocol Launches Privacy-Focused Hackathon Track
NEAR Protocol has introduced a new hackathon track emphasizing privacy and AI, aiming to spur innovation in these areas.
NEAR Protocol has introduced a new hackathon track emphasizing privacy and AI, aiming to spur innovation in these areas. NEAR Protocol (NEAR) is trading at ₹413 ($4.34), down 0.2% since this brief published. This is an original Token Times brief based on reporting by Coinfomania, with live market data added, as of Sat, 31 Oct 2026 03:00:02 UTC.
The initiative could drive developer engagement and innovation in privacy and AI on the NEAR blockchain, potentially boosting its ecosystem and market position.
- NEAR Protocol announced a privacy and AI-focused hackathon track.
- NEAR's TVL is $118.83M, down 13.2% over the past week.
- NEAR price rose 9.22% in the last 24 hours despite the broader market's Fear & Greed index at 30.
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- NEAR Protocol Announces $250K Hackathon Amidst Market Optimism
- NEAR Protocol Launches Cross-Chain Treasury Platform With Privacy Features
- Fhenix Launches Privacy-Focused Platform on Ethereum and Arbitrum
- NEAR Protocol Launches Cross-Margin Perpetual Futures Trading
- NEAR Protocol Launches Confidential Pre-IPO Futures for AI Firm Anthropic
- NEAR Protocol Launches Privacy-Focused Hackathon Track — this brief
NEAR Protocol has announced a new hackathon track that focuses on privacy and AI, aiming to foster innovation and attract developers to its ecosystem.
This move comes as NEAR's Total Value Locked (TVL) stands at $118.83 million, marking a 13.2% decrease over the past week, according to DeFiLlama.
The announcement has garnered attention amid a broader market context where the total crypto market cap is $2.67 trillion, with 
Bitcoin up 1.06% in the last 24 hours.
Despite the overall market sentiment being in the 'Fear' zone with a Fear & Greed index of 30, NEAR's price has increased by 9.22% in the last day, reaching $4.35.
The hackathon track's focus on privacy and AI could be a strategic move to differentiate NEAR in the competitive smart contract platform landscape and address growing concerns around data privacy and AI integration in blockchain.
Since this brief published about 2 hours ago, NEAR Protocol (NEAR) has moved from ₹413.57$4.35 to ₹412.62$4.34 — -0.23%.
The chart plots NEAR's price: grey is the move before this brief published, the vertical dashed line marks the moment it published, the horizontal dashed line is the price then, and the coloured area is the move since — from Token Times's market data (daily resolution). It shows what happened after the news, not that the news caused it; many factors move prices. Not financial advice.
At today's peer-to-peer rate, 1 NEAR ≈ ₹449.73 (about $4.34), up 7.0% over 24 hours. The rupee itself trades about 9.0% above the official rate on the P2P market, so a Indian buyer's effective cost differs from the headline dollar price.
Live market data
Current prices for the asset in this story — live, source-stamped, updated every 15 minutes.
Figures and sectors in this story, checked live against on-chain aggregators · October 31, 2026.
Token Times reads these figures directly from on-chain aggregators (DeFiLlama, mempool.space) at build time — independent of what any outlet reported. Sector totals aggregate every protocol DeFiLlama tracks in that category. Values are live and will change.
NEAR Protocol Launches Privacy-Focused Hackathon Track — questions & answers
What is the focus of NEAR Protocol's new hackathon track?
The hackathon track focuses on privacy and AI.
How has NEAR's TVL changed recently?
NEAR's TVL is $118.83M, down 13.2% over the past week.
What is the current price of NEAR?
NEAR is priced at $4.35, up 9.22% in the last 24 hours.
How much is 1 NEAR Protocol worth in rupee today?
About ₹449.73 at the live peer-to-peer (P2P) USDT rate, which is what Indians typically trade at — equivalent to roughly $4.34. The rupee price moves with both NEAR's US-dollar price and the USDT/INR rate; use our NEAR Protocol in rupee page for any amount.
Has NEAR Protocol's price moved since this brief was published?
NEAR is down 0.23% since this brief first published — trading at ₹413 ($4.34) now versus ₹414 ($4.35) at publication. Token Times re-checks this figure against CoinGecko and Binance every 15 minutes.
Which outlets reported this story?
This is an original Token Times brief that synthesises reporting from Coinfomania. It is not a copy of any one article — follow the source links above for the original reporting.
Original summary — not financial advice. This is an original Token Times brief that summarises a development reported elsewhere and adds live market data for context; it is not the original article and reproduces no part of it. Follow the source link above for full details. Crypto is volatile and high-risk — always do your own research.