Chainlink (LINK) is 1.6× the size of NEAR Protocol (NEAR) by market capitalisation. Over the past 1 year, NEAR is ahead by 128.1 percentage points (LINK -27.7% against NEAR +100.4%). Their daily returns move closely together (correlation 0.63 across 399 shared trading days). NEAR has been the more volatile of the two, at 108% annualised against LINK's 71%.
LINKNEAR
0.63over 399 shared trading days
Measured on daily returns rather than on prices. Two assets that both simply trend upward score near 1.0 on raw prices whether or not they move together, so returns are what answer the question people mean by correlation.
| Metric | LINK | NEAR |
|---|---|---|
| Max drawdown (400d) | -69.2% | -68.7% |
| Risk-adjusted return (90d) | 0.47 | 0.98 |
| Best 30 days (past year) | +61.6% | +195.3% |
| Worst 30 days (past year) | -43.6% | -48.1% |
Relative strength over 90 days: NEAR outperformed LINK by 40.1% — measured on the LINK/NEAR ratio, so it holds regardless of market direction.