ATOM vs NEAR
Cosmos and NEAR Protocol scored on the same 25 variables, ranked against the same 251 tokens, with every gap between them shown.
Scoring pass 18 Sept 2026. Market snapshot 7 Oct 2026.
What separates them
ATOM scores 96 of 250 and ranks 161st of 251. NEAR scores 135 and ranks 39th. NEAR leads by 39 points, which is a wide enough margin that the framework is not ambivalent. ATOM takes 1 of the 25 variables, NEAR takes 20, and 4 are level.
The framework rates ATOM PASS and NEAR CAUTIOUS HOLD. Two tokens close enough to compare do not have to land in the same band, and where they do not, the divergence table below is where the split comes from.
5 variables separate them by 3 points or more. NEAR is clear on Insider Selling (7 against 3), P/S Multiple (5 against 2) and Circulating / FDV Ratio (7 against 4).
Both score 3 or below on Buyback and Burn, BTC Alpha Potential. A weakness both sides share is not a reason to prefer either. It is a reason to check whether the category itself carries the problem.
NEAR is valued at $6.64B against $899.5M for ATOM, a 7.4x difference. The larger of the two also scores higher, so the market and the framework agree on the ordering here.
ATOM trades 96.2% below its all-time high and NEAR 75.2% below its own. Recovering the high needs 26.3x from ATOM and 4x from NEAR, which is the same statement read as the return each one has to produce.
All 25 variables, head to head
Both tokens were scored by the same framework in the same pass, so the numbers are directly comparable. What a comparison adds over two separate pages is the gap: a 6 against a 6 is a non-event, a 9 against a 3 is the reason to hold one and not the other.
Cash flow
| Protocol Revenue | 4 | 3 | ATOM +1 | |
| Revenue Trend | 5 | 6 | NEAR +1 | |
| P/S Multiple | 2 | 5 | NEAR +3 | |
| Real Staking Yield | 4 | 4 | level |
Supply
| Supply Inflation | 4 | 5 | NEAR +1 | |
| Vesting Schedule | 6 | 6 | level | |
| Circulating / FDV Ratio | 4 | 7 | NEAR +3 | |
| Buyback and Burn | 1 | 3 | NEAR +2 |
Ownership
| Smart Money Flows | 5 | 5 | level | |
| Insider Selling | 3 | 7 | NEAR +4 | |
| Holder Concentration | 4 | 5 | NEAR +1 |
Traction
| TVL Trend | 3 | 4 | NEAR +1 | |
| Active Users | 3 | 5 | NEAR +2 | |
| Developer Activity | 6 | 8 | NEAR +2 | |
| Network Growth | 4 | 7 | NEAR +3 |
Position
| Market Share | 4 | 5 | NEAR +1 | |
| Competitive Moat | 3 | 5 | NEAR +2 | |
| Institutional Adoption | 4 | 5 | NEAR +1 | |
| Exchange Depth | 5 | 5 | level | |
| Social Mindshare | 3 | 5 | NEAR +2 |
Risk
| Regulatory Safety | 4 | 7 | NEAR +3 | |
| Catalyst Calendar | 5 | 8 | NEAR +3 | |
| BTC Alpha Potential | 2 | 3 | NEAR +1 | |
| Team Execution | 4 | 6 | NEAR +2 | |
| Treasury Runway | 4 | 6 | NEAR +2 |
Bars read outward from the centre: ATOM to the left, NEAR to the right. The side that leads a variable is filled. Each score is 1 to 10 against the same definition applied to all 251 rated tokens.
Market and supply
| ATOM | NEAR | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.68 | $5.07 |
| Market cap | $899.5M | $6.64B |
| Circulating | 100% | 100% |
| Dilution to full supply | 1x | 1x |
| Off all-time high | -96.2% | -75.2% |
| To recover the high | 26.3x | 4x |
| Total value locked | $240.0K | $184.9M |
| Network | Cosmos | NEAR |
Price, market cap and all-time high from the CoinGecko snapshot fetched 7 Oct 2026. Supply shares are derived from circulating and eventual supply counts, which do not move with price. The 25 scores come from the research pass dated 18 Sept 2026.
Catalyst and risk on each side
ATOM · PASS
Tokenomics redesign RFP (9 proposals), SDK v0.54 shipping, IBC-Solana bridge Q2, PSS (ICS 2.0), Cosmoverse Nov 2026
Neutron left ICS, Noble exiting to EVM, Sei disabled IBC, $5.4M Gravity Bridge exploit, P/S 17,637x, unlimited supply with 7% inflation, named security in SEC v Binance/Coinbase
NEAR · CAUTIOUS HOLD
nearcore 2.9.0 halving upgrade (max inflation 5%->2.5%), Agent Market 2.0 Q3, Bitwise NEAR Strategy ETF S-1 filed
Chain gas fees ~$2-3.2k/day vs $4.7B mcap; TVL/mcap ratio 4%; buyback crossover still protocol-claimed not audited
Common questions
- Is ATOM or NEAR the better investment?
- On this framework NEAR scores higher: 135 against 96 of 250, and it is rated CAUTIOUS HOLD against PASS. That is a ranking of fundamentals as recorded at the last scoring pass, not a price forecast, and ATOM still wins 1 of the 25 individual variables against NEAR.
- What is the biggest difference between ATOM and NEAR?
- Insider Selling. ATOM scores 3 of 10 there and NEAR scores 7, a gap of 4 points on a single variable.
- Which is bigger, ATOM or NEAR?
- ATOM is valued at $899.5M and NEAR at $6.64B on the latest market snapshot.
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Research and analysis, not investment advice. A higher score is one framework applied consistently to 251 tokens, not a prediction that one asset will outperform the other.