- NEAR’s new partnership with the ICC marked a significant step forward in practical utility solutions.
- It could pave the way for more NEAR adoption in the future.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is exploring the use of blockchain to improve customer engagement in sports. The ICC therefore plans to use the NEAR protocol [NEAR] to achieve that goal, in a move that could potentially boost the latter’s popularity.
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Near Protocol’s official X account (formerly Twitter) confirmed the news on September 30. Notably, the ICC has chosen the protocol as the blockchain of choice due to the strong presence of WEB3.
The cricket organization said it is exploring ideas to develop valuable and lasting experiences for fans. This may also include fan engagement competitions with players.
ICYMI: The NEAR Foundation has partnered with the @ICC 🏏
Whether you can explain the rules of cricket or not, this will beat the fan engagement experience in the sport for six people 🎉 https://t.co/Gk92ZIC3Vl pic.twitter.com/cBLZYTbGWZ
— NEAR Protocol (@NEARProtocol) September 29, 2023
While it is interesting that the ICC is embracing blockchain, what is even more interesting is that it has chosen the NEAR protocol. This could be a big problem for the blockchain, as cricket has one of the largest fan bases of any sporting league in the world, with 2.5 billion fans.
The development could bring some benefits to the NEAR network, especially in terms of visibility. The protocol’s social dominance has been waning lately.
The announcement about NEAR’s new partnership with the ICC may offer an opportunity for a turn in the network’s social dominance.
Source: Santiment
A collaboration with one of the largest sports competitions in the world is certainly a major achievement. This could potentially encourage more collaborations in the future, potentially increasing demand for the NEAR token.
Assessment of the status of NEAR’s demand
NEAR has been in a generally bearish trajectory since February of this year. There was a bullish attempt between mid-June and mid-August, which was short-lived as the price resumed its bearish trajectory.
The bears have lost momentum since August, indicating that we may soon witness another bullish rally attempt.
NEAR was exchanging hands at $1.18 at the time of writing, having risen more than 5% in the past three days. An extended rally beyond this level could indicate that the bulls were gaining strength.
This is because the cryptocurrency has struggled to secure enough demand to break out of the low range at the time of writing.
Source: TradingView
Read Near Protocols [NEAR] Price forecast 2023-2024
Despite the bullish three-day performance, other observations do not indicate the possibility of more bullish pressure. For example, the MFI appeared to have a flat line, indicating that there was very little liquidity driving up the price at the time of writing.
However, on-chain data suggested there was some optimism, as evidenced by the slight upward trend in the weighted sentiment measure at the time of writing. The network has also undergone healthy development over the past four weeks.
Source: Santiment