Between May 26–28, 2026, NEAR Protocol rose 15%, Worldcoin (WLD) gained 17%, and Render (RNDR) climbed 15% even as Bitcoin fell 7.8% and Ethereum dropped 9.4%. The move came during a risk-off stretch that included $897 million in long liquidations and a Fear & Greed Index reading of 33. The article argues AI-linked tokens are increasingly trading as their own sub-sector, supported by adoption narratives and the $11.78 billion AI agent market estimate for 2026.