On May 25, Arthur Hayes posted a NEAR/USDT weekly chart on X with one line of commentary: “We got a long way to go… pack your bags for da moon.” The post has 380,000 views.
It is worth slowing down on the word “weekly.”
Daily charts are for traders. Weekly charts are for people who think in months or years. When Hayes posts a weekly, he is not talking about this week’s price action. He is talking about where he thinks the asset is in a much longer cycle.
We got a long way to go … pack your bags for da moon. pic.twitter.com/XroNox8XQs
— Arthur Hayes (@CryptoHayes) May 25, 2026
We covered the initial NEAR rally and Hayes’ “holy trinity” call when it happened. This is a different moment in the same thesis.
What Has Happened Since the Holy Trinity Call
On May 22, Hayes named NEAR alongside Hyperliquid and Zcash as his top altcoin picks. NEAR responded by surging more than 30% to a six-month high above $2.30, with the rally happening during a broader market downturn.
More than $14 million in short positions were liquidated during the move, according to CoinGlass data. That is not organic buying. That is a short squeeze triggered by a single public statement.
NEAR Liquidation Analysis – Source: Coinglass
Over seven days NEAR climbed 50%, with trading volume jumping 190% to $1.15 billion.
Then on May 25, rather than going quiet after a 50% move, Hayes posted again. This time with a weekly chart showing the full price history from NEAR’s 2022 peak down to its multi-year lows and the current recovery leg. The implication of showing the full cycle is clear: he thinks the current price, even after a 50% weekly run, is still early relative to where it was and where he expects it to go.
Why the Thesis Has More Behind It Than an Endorsement
Hayes does not move markets on vibes alone. His NEAR thesis has been building in stages since early May.
In a Substack preview, Hayes wrote that the combination of NEAR Intents and the privacy narrative “will create a positive cash flow situation for the protocol.” That is a fundamentals argument, not a momentum trade.
The underlying infrastructure supports it. NEAR’s ecosystem now includes an AI Agent Market and a confidential GPU marketplace. A significant protocol upgrade is scheduled for June 2026, network upgrade 2.13, which introduces dynamic resharding. On the institutional side, Grayscale filed in January 2026 to convert its NEAR Trust into a spot ETF under the ticker GSNR, with an SEC decision expected around September 2026.
Two hard catalysts with fixed timelines. The June resharding upgrade and the September ETF decision window are the events Hayes is likely positioning around. A weekly chart posted now, with both catalysts ahead, is a thesis statement about where the price is relative to those events.
What the Weekly Chart Actually Shows
The chart Hayes posted shows NEAR trading near the bottom of its multi-year range. At its 2022 peak NEAR touched roughly $20. At the lows it fell below $1. The current price around $2.50 is still more than 85% below that peak.
That is the visual argument the weekly chart makes without Hayes needing to say it. The token ran hard this week but on a multi-year basis the recovery from the bottom has barely begun.
Technical analysts place near-term resistance at $3.40 to $3.80, with a potential target around $5.75 based on a breakout from a multi-year falling wedge pattern.
Whether those targets materialize depends on things Hayes cannot control. The June upgrade needs to deliver. The ETF application needs to progress. Bitcoin needs to hold its footing. Any of those variables breaking the wrong way changes the picture.
The Pattern Worth Watching
Hayes has now posted three escalating signals on NEAR in two weeks. A Substack thesis, a “holy trinity” social call, and a weekly chart with explicit moon language. Each one has moved the price. Each one has been more visually dramatic than the last.
The weekly chart is the most serious of the three because it commits him to a longer timeframe publicly. Traders watch when influencers of Hayes’ caliber shift from short-term calls to long-term charts. It signals conviction rather than opportunism.
Whether you are positioned in NEAR or watching from the outside, the signal he sent yesterday is different from what he said last week. Last week was a trade. Yesterday looked more like a conviction play.
