LEO vs NEAR
UNUS SED LEO 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
LEO scores 126 of 250 and ranks 53rd of 251. NEAR scores 135 and ranks 39th. NEAR leads by 9 points, which is inside the range where the individual variables matter more than the total. LEO takes 7 of the 25 variables, NEAR takes 13, and 5 are level.
5 variables separate them by 3 points or more. LEO is clear on Buyback and Burn (8 against 3) and Protocol Revenue (6 against 3). NEAR is clear on Catalyst Calendar (8 against 3), Developer Activity (8 against 4) and Network Growth (7 against 3).
LEO is valued at $8.19B against $6.64B for NEAR, a 1.2x difference. The smaller of the two scores higher on fundamentals, which is the disagreement worth understanding before either position is taken.
NEAR trades 75.2% below its all-time high and LEO 16.2% below its own. Recovering the high needs 4x from NEAR and 1.2x from LEO, 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 | 6 | 3 | LEO +3 | |
| Revenue Trend | 5 | 6 | NEAR +1 | |
| P/S Multiple | 5 | 5 | level | |
| Real Staking Yield | 3 | 4 | NEAR +1 |
Supply
| Supply Inflation | 8 | 5 | LEO +3 | |
| Vesting Schedule | 8 | 6 | LEO +2 | |
| Circulating / FDV Ratio | 9 | 7 | LEO +2 | |
| Buyback and Burn | 8 | 3 | LEO +5 |
Ownership
| Smart Money Flows | 4 | 5 | NEAR +1 | |
| Insider Selling | 6 | 7 | NEAR +1 | |
| Holder Concentration | 3 | 5 | NEAR +2 |
Traction
| TVL Trend | 4 | 4 | level | |
| Active Users | 5 | 5 | level | |
| Developer Activity | 4 | 8 | NEAR +4 | |
| Network Growth | 3 | 7 | NEAR +4 |
Position
| Market Share | 5 | 5 | level | |
| Competitive Moat | 5 | 5 | level | |
| Institutional Adoption | 4 | 5 | NEAR +1 | |
| Exchange Depth | 4 | 5 | NEAR +1 | |
| Social Mindshare | 3 | 5 | NEAR +2 |
Risk
| Regulatory Safety | 4 | 7 | NEAR +3 | |
| Catalyst Calendar | 3 | 8 | NEAR +5 | |
| BTC Alpha Potential | 5 | 3 | LEO +2 | |
| Team Execution | 5 | 6 | NEAR +1 | |
| Treasury Runway | 7 | 6 | LEO +1 |
Bars read outward from the centre: LEO 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
| LEO | NEAR | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $8.90 | $5.07 |
| Market cap | $8.19B | $6.64B |
| Circulating | 93.4% | 100% |
| Dilution to full supply | 1.07x | 1x |
| Off all-time high | -16.2% | -75.2% |
| To recover the high | 1.2x | 4x |
| Total value locked | not published | $184.9M |
| Network | Ethereum | 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
LEO · CAUTIOUS HOLD
Continuous LEO token buyback and burn funded by at least 27% of iFinex consolidated gross revenue, accelerating token burn from Q3 2025.
DOJ indictment of Bitfinex/Tether executives for bank fraud or sanctions violations.
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 LEO or NEAR the better investment?
- On this framework NEAR scores higher: 135 against 126 of 250, and it is rated CAUTIOUS HOLD against CAUTIOUS HOLD. That is a ranking of fundamentals as recorded at the last scoring pass, not a price forecast, and LEO still wins 7 of the 25 individual variables against NEAR.
- What is the biggest difference between LEO and NEAR?
- Buyback and Burn. LEO scores 8 of 10 there and NEAR scores 3, a gap of 5 points on a single variable.
- Which is bigger, LEO or NEAR?
- LEO is valued at $8.19B 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.