Bear Market Woes: NEAR Foundation’s Treasury Loses $200 Million

The NEAR cryptocurrency’s hit in price seems to have made its way to the NEAR Foundation’s treasury. According to the foundation behind NEAR’s layer-1 blockchain, it saw a $200 million decline in its treasury at the end of the second quarter of the year.

NEAR Foundation’s Treasury Value Tanks In Q2

The Near Foundation’s treasury value dropped by over $200 million in the second quarter of 2022 alone. The foundation’s Q2 edition of its transparency report showed that the NEAR treasury now stands at $900 million, led by a fall in the price of NEAR tokens. In comparison, the Near Treasury totaled $1.1 billion in Q1 2023. 

At the #NEAR Foundation, transparency is at our core.

Check out the Foundation’s Q2 ’23 Transparency Report below for all the details on treasury, strategy, OKRs, and more! https://t.co/EXZcmhC7sA pic.twitter.com/twxiSffiWM

— NEAR Foundation (@NEARFoundation) July 10, 2023

At the end of the second quarter, the treasury held $349 million in fiat reserves, $315 million in NEAR tokens, $90 million in loans and investments, and a net total of $16 million in fiat and 1 million NEAR tokens was deployed to the ecosystem.

While cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum saw some renewed investor interest in the second quarter, many altcoins witnessed a plunge in price, and NEAR was one of them. NEAR, the native token of the blockchain plunged in value from $1.99 at the beginning of the quarter to $1.38. In comparison, NEAR skyrocketed in price in the first and second quarters of last year, reaching more than $20 at its peak.

Looking Ahead

The crypto market is volatile, so treasury balances can change quickly. Despite the Q2 treasury plunge, the NEAR Foundation remains in a position to fulfill its mission to accelerate the development of the decentralized NEAR ecosystem.

“Amidst a turbulent market, the NEAR Foundation’s vision and mission remain the same: we believe in building a better web — the open web,” the report mentioned. 

Developers attribute the decline in the treasury to the current headwinds in the industry, such as the SEC action against Binance and Coinbase. However, to minimize the risk of loss, non-NEAR assets, therefore, have been limited, with fiat reserves held in highly-rated Swiss bank accounts.

The NEAR blockchain prides itself as a blockchain operating system for an open web. However, the ecosystem has certainly been through some rough patches in the past. Last year, the foundation shut down its algorithmic stablecoin USN after suffering a collateral gap of $40 million. 

Throughout Q2, the Near ecosystem saw 1.1 million monthly active accounts with 42 new strategic partners coming on board. The NEAR token is currently trading at $1.31, down more than 60% over the past year.