Bittensor (TAO) and NEAR Fell Up to 22% in Two Weeks While Bitcoin Fell 4%. Is the AI Coin Trade Over?

Bittensor (CRYPTO:TAO) and NEAR Protocol (CRYPTO:NEAR) have experienced significant drops in price over the past two weeks, with declines of up to 19%. In contrast, Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) saw a smaller drop of just 4%. As these two major AI coins struggle, many investors are left wondering if the AI coin trade is coming to an end.

Over the past 14 days, Bittensor has fallen 12.9% to around $251, while NEAR has dropped 19.4% to about $4.53. In comparison, Bitcoin’s decline is relatively minor, at just 3.7%. This stark difference has raised investor concerns about the future of AI coins.

On October 24, 2026, both TAO and NEAR hit new monthly lows. TAO closed just below $251, its lowest monthly close, with a 30-day loss of 23.5%. NEAR, too, sank to about $4.24, its lowest point in a month. For perspective, TAO is trading 66.9% below its all-time high, while NEAR is down 77.9%.

What Triggered the Selloff in AI Coins?

The latest downturn was sparked by a selloff in technology stocks after a concerning report regarding AI spending surfaced on October 22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META | META Price Prediction) fell about 7% that day, despite beating revenue expectations. Traders at Wells Fargo said Meta’s comments about its need for AI funding caused its shares to roll over, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 2.6% that day.

Adding to the uncertainty, Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA), mentioned in an interview that while demand for AI-related cloud services is “off the charts,” the available capital for investment is limited. This statement raised market concerns, as it suggested lenders may be less willing to finance the AI sector’s growth.

As investors pulled away from riskier assets, they shifted toward safer investments like U.S. Treasuries, pushing the 10-year yield down to 4.97%. Simultaneously, Brent crude oil prices surged by 4% to around $113 per barrel on reports of renewed strikes against Iran.

AI Coins Are Feeling the Pressure More Than Bitcoin and NVIDIA

AI coins began to decline earlier in the month. On October 8, the cryptocurrency market took a hit as rising oil prices, rising interest rates, concerns about the future of cryptography, and tech-stock anxiety converged. On that day, TAO fell from about $291 to $269, while NEAR dropped from around $5.33 to $4.46, both experiencing their highest trading volumes of the month.

In comparison, NVIDIA, a leading AI stock, declined by 7.8% from September 28 to October 23 but remains up by 15.3% in 2026. Fetch.ai, another AI coin, fell 27.9% over the month, suggesting the sector’s weakness isn’t limited to TAO and NEAR.

Investors who jumped into the AI market during the hype need to consider an exit strategy as well as how to enter, and our free bubble survivor’s handbook can help them with both.

Bitcoin has managed to hold its ground better than most. Bitcoin has the deepest market in crypto, and many investors view it as a store of value, so a panic over AI doesn’t impact it as directly. In contrast, both TAO and NEAR’s prices are closely tied to AI expectations, so any doubt in the AI space directly affects their value.

NEAR also had more to lose after experiencing substantial gains earlier this year, soaring 204.5% in 2026 and 138.7% over the last 60 days. Investors had more profits to protect when the wave of fear came crashing in. Bitwise also began trading a spot NEAR ETF on September 29, yet NEAR remains down 7% over the last 30 days.

TAO and NEAR Have Dropped Below Their October 8 Lows

TAO is also facing supply pressures. The Bittensor network operates subnets—specialized mini-networks where miners compete to fulfill AI-related tasks such as storage and inference. Here, both miners and validators earn new TAO tokens through emissions, which can increase supply they may sell as buyer interest wanes, even after the December 2025 halving cut daily issuance in half.

Support levels indicate where buyers typically enter the market, while resistance levels denote where sellers take over. TAO fell below its October 8 low of about $254, dropping to around $242 on October 24, and its October 22 high of about $273 serves as the nearest resistance.

Similarly, NEAR fell below its October 8 low of about $4.30, touching approximately $4.24. Its October 22 high of around $5.33 is the closest resistance level.

Despite these struggles, trading volume suggests sellers may be tiring. On October 25, TAO’s trading volume was the lowest recorded since the selloff began on October 7. Trading remained light as TAO dipped to around $247 before bouncing back to above $250.

Is the AI Coin Trade Over, or Just Taking a Break?

The AI coin trend seems more likely to be taking a break than ending, but it is on shaky ground. Recently, NEAR has risen 2.2% in the past 24 hours, and TAO has stayed above its $242 low for two days. However, these rebounds have occurred on low trading volume, which raises concerns.

For investors, this uncertainty can be unsettling, especially since major tech companies need to prove to shareholders that their investments in AI are worthwhile. Meta’s October 22 report didn’t help, as its AI spending plans worried investors despite a revenue beat.

On October 24, NEAR co-founder Illia Polosukhin announced that NEAR Intents will integrate with Nasdaq and NYSE trading platforms, though he presented his stock-buying example as hypothetical. Additionally, the upcoming Backers Summit on October 28 includes a House of Stake issuance proposal that could reduce coin issuance.

If TAO closes below $242 or NEAR closes below $4.24, the outlook for AI coins may appear broken for this cycle. Conversely, if both coins can rise back above $273 and $5.33, respectively, it would suggest that the trading trend is only pausing.

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