NEAR Protocol introduced Chain Signatures in 2024 to address these issues head-on, unlocking fast and secure cross-chain liquidity. Now MoreMarkets is using Chain Signatures to introduce a revolutionary model of verticalized DeFi. Unlike traditional bridging, which requires users to transfer and wrap tokens, MoreMarkets retains token security and native integrity. Users deposit tokens, such as XRP, directly into dedicated vaults on their native chains, triggering cryptographic proof creation through NEAR’s Chain Signatures. Smart contracts on destination blockchains then trustlessly validate these proofs, creating a digital representation: “More” tokens that mirror the locked assets. This model encourages broader DeFi participation without traditional bridging complexity.

Understanding NEAR’s Chain Signatures

Chain Signatures represent NEAR Protocol’s groundbreaking solution for secure cross-chain transactions. Chain Signatures enable NEAR accounts, including smart contracts, to authorize transactions on external blockchains securely. This system leverages a decentralized multi-party computation network, which combines NEAR staking with Eigenlayer ETH restakers to safeguard cross-chain interactions.

The technical infrastructure of NEAR’s Chain Signatures encompasses three core elements:

• Native Asset Vaults: Assets remain securely on their native blockchain, protected by smart contracts which trigger cryptographic signature events when deposits occur.
• Threshold Multi-Party Computation: Multiple independent “guardian nodes” manage distributed cryptographic proofs. When an asset deposit is made, guardians collaborate to generate a cryptographic proof, attesting to the locked asset’s status. The result is a system that eliminates single points of failure, isolates risks, and minimizes attack vectors inherent in traditional bridging solutions.
• Cross-chain Messaging via NFFL: Cryptographic proofs are communicated through the NEAR-enabled NFFL protocol, a secure cross-chain messaging framework, verifying asset status to receiving blockchains.

Unlike traditional bridging that requires tokens to physically move off their native chains—often causing complexity, security vulnerabilities, and fragmented liquidity—Chain Signatures keep tokens securely locked on their original blockchain. Through cryptographic proofs, Chain Signatures verify these locked states trustlessly across other blockchains, enabling asset utilization without physical token movement.

For users and developers, this means:

• Reduced Risk: By avoiding traditional multisig structures, Chain Signatures lower vulnerabilities traditionally associated with bridge exploits.
• Enhanced User Experience: NEAR’s efficient consensus and verification algorithms offer substantially reduced latency, allowing quicker, smoother cross-chain interactions.
• Increased Asset Utilization: By transforming previously idle tokens into productive assets, token holders benefit from significantly higher yields and capital efficiency.

Real-World Use Case: XRP on MoreMarkets

Consider XRP, a widely-held asset with historically low utilization rate in DeFi (0.07% AUR). With MoreMarkets and NEAR Chain Signatures, users can deposit XRP securely into a native XRP Ledger vault. This deposit triggers NEAR’s MPC-based chain signature system to cryptographically confirm XRP’s secure state. MoreXRP tokens are then minted on Solana or any other demand chain, representing the XRP locked in its home chain. Strategists deploy these MoreXRP tokens into yield-generating strategies across DeFi, funneling yield directly back to the user’s original vault.

A New Era of Global Liquidity

MoreMarkets and NEAR Protocol’s Chain Signatures embody a shift toward a more interconnected, efficient, and secure DeFi ecosystem. The integration of Chain Signatures promotes deeper liquidity pools, improved yields, and a simpler user experience. By ensuring assets remain secure on their native chains, NEAR Protocol drives a robust foundation for truly global liquidity.

Disclaimer:

This post is intended solely for informational and educational purposes. It does not constitute financial, investment, or legal advice. NEAR Protocol’s Chain Signatures and their integration with MoreMarkets and cross-chain liquidity solutions involve innovative technologies that may carry inherent risks, including but not limited to technical vulnerabilities, market volatility, regulatory uncertainty, and potential loss of digital assets. Users should independently evaluate the technology and associated risks before interacting with the protocol or related products. Past performance or technical capabilities do not guarantee future outcomes or security. The publisher makes no representations or warranties regarding the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information provided herein. Users are solely responsible for their own decisions and actions.

The post How NEAR Protocol’s Chain Signatures Power MoreMarkets and Cross-Chain Liquidity appeared first on NEAR Protocol.

Leading the Conversation on AI and Blockchain

This was Illia’s second consecutive year speaking at the flagship event of the world leader in AI computing. As one of the co-authors of “Attention Is All You Need,” the landmark 2017 paper introducing the Transformer architecture at the core of the ongoing leap in AI capability, Illia is a key leader in the AI world and is now at the forefront of making AI truly open and user-owned with NEAR. Indeed, Illia is the only Web3 founder speaking at GTC 2025, highlighting NEAR’s unique position at the intersection of blockchain technology and artificial intelligence.

Decentralized Confidential Machine Learning: Enabling User-Owned AI

Illia’s talk unpacked NEAR AI’s recent developments in decentralized confidential machine learning, a cloud approach to training, fine-tuning, and utilizing AI models and agents that addresses several of today’s critical challenges:

• Privacy: Users can use AI models without revealing their personal data, even to the entities hosting the models.
• Open Source: Users can trust these models to be open, transparent, and verifiable.
• Sustainable Economics: Model creators can monetize their work, even in a decentralized environment, ensuring a sustainable business model.
• Community Collaboration: Groups can collectively develop AI models, sharing both costs and profits without requiring absolute trust among participants.

This approach represents a significant departure from the present AI paradigm, in which a handful of powerful corporations own the models, farm user-generated data, and capture all resulting value––or, in the case of open source AI, lack a path to sustainable monetization.

NEAR: The Blockchain for AI

AI isn’t just the future—it’s happening now. But to truly realize its transformative potential, economic and otherwise, AI must be open for all to participate and profit while preserving ownership and privacy of data.

Blockchain technology provides a means to accomplish this, and NEAR is the only platform purpose-built to power AI at scale while preserving privacy and user ownership. Unlike traditional blockchains, NEAR enables intelligent agents to transact, automate workflows, and operate independently while preserving privacy, security, and cross-network interoperability.

Advances like the ones Illia described in this week’s NVIDIA talk are a major part of why the future of AI is NEAR. To learn more about NEAR AI’s research and Decentralized Confidential Machine Learning, visit near.ai.

The post NEAR Co-Founder Illia Polosukhin Presents New AI Research at NVIDIA GTC 2025 appeared first on NEAR Protocol.

NEAR Intents represent a paradigm shift in transaction models, enabling seamless cross-chain and real-world interactions. Unlike traditional transactions that require users to manually execute complex operations, Intents allow users to simply declare their desired outcome, letting a specialized network of solvers compete to fulfill the request.

The intents protocol facilitates the entire transaction process end to end: discovering assets, sending quotes, settling transactions, and resolving potential disputes, all while maintaining security and transparency through on-chain settlement.

Passkeys: A New Standard for Blockchain Security

One of the biggest obstacles in crypto today is key management. Private keys and seed phrases are difficult to store securely, creating barriers for new users and security risks for experienced ones. 

Now, users can simply access the platform using NEAR, Ethereum, or Solana wallets and store their cryptocurrency non-custodially on-chain using passkey authentication. This approach to security eliminates the need for complicated seed phrases while maintaining true ownership of digital assets.

Watch the demo to experience seamless, secure access with passkey authentication.

OTC Trading: A Direct Marketplace

The new OTC trading functionality transforms how peer-to-peer transactions can occur without reliance on traditional exchange pricing mechanisms.

Rather than swapping assets at the current market rate, users can directly negotiate a trade at a fixed price with a known counterparty. Once the buyer and seller agree on a price, NEAR Intents handles the transfer, ensuring a trustless, efficient, and seamless settlement.

Watch the demo:

Expanding Multi-Chain Support

NEAR Intents supports multiple blockchains, including Bitcoin, Solana, Ethereum, NEAR, Base, Arbitrum, Ripple, DOGE, Zcash, and Bera, with BNB, Gnosis, Polygon, and Aurora.

Aurora Labs CEO and core contributor to the Intents protocol, Alex Shevchenko said in a recent talk: “Since NEAR Intents was introduced, we’ve seen a steady surge in daily trading volume. This was achieved with no special marketing campaign or incentives…people are using it because they see the value of permissionlessly and trustlessly transacting across chains.”

Multiple DeFi partners, like Infinex, Templar, Rhea, Kyber Swap and Satoshi Port, are already integrating the NEAR Intents protocol directly into their platforms, providing users with convenient access points while expanding the ecosystem’s reach.

Start Using NEAR Intents Today

These latest upgrades reinforce NEAR’s mission to make decentralized transactions intuitive, secure, and AI-driven. Explore NEAR’s Intents documentation to get started.

The post Expanding NEAR Intents: Passkeys & OTC Trading Now Live appeared first on NEAR Protocol.

The Road to One Trillion Agents: NEAR’s Multi-Day Extravaganza

NEAR hit the ground running with “The Road to One Trillion Agents,” a multi-day event from February 25 to 27 that anchored its ETHDenver presence. This wasn’t a passive sit-and-listen affair—attendees engaged in hands-on workshops, whiteboard sessions, and in-depth explorations of NEAR’s AI stack. The event balanced deep technical discussions with social moments, keeping the energy high and the ideas flowing.

The kickoff on February 25 focused on the mechanics of autonomous agents, wrapping up with a lively Delphi x NEAR Happy Hour. The momentum continued on February 26 with a Founders & VCs Brunch alongside DFG and Jsquare—an ideal setting for high-level networking and deal-making—followed by advanced sessions dissecting AI’s future in Web3. The day concluded with the NEAR Eco Mixer, bringing together builders and investors over cocktails. By February 27, Founder Success’ NEAR AI Agent Games Day introduced an interactive element, blending competition with insights into NEAR’s ecosystem. Across three dynamic days, the stage was set for a trillion-agent future.

Sessions Worth Noting

• Kendall Cole (Proximity Labs) – Shade Agents unveiled the first truly autonomous, non-custodial, multi-chain AI agents on NEAR. He explained how blockchain solves authentication and payment challenges for AI agents, highlighting decentralized key management, TEEs, and smart contract integration. His session demonstrated how Shade Agents enable new AI-driven use cases like automated DeFi management and headless UIs.
• Pierre Le Guen (NEAR AI) – Private, Verifiable AI tackled the risks of centralized AI and introduced Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) as a solution for secure, verifiable computations. His live demo showcased AI agents executing encrypted transactions and private inference, ensuring data security and decentralized AI governance.
• Oleg Fomenko (SWEAT) – Move in Action (MIA) introduced MIA, an AI-powered assistant integrated into the Sweat Wallet. Built on NEAR AI, MIA personalizes user experiences based on on-chain activity, physical activity records, and mobile device context. Trained on 700,000+ user interactions from Sweat’s “Walk into AI” feature, MIA marks a new era of AI-driven fitness and lifestyle engagement.

The Defining Moment: Illia’s Main Stage Spotlight

Illia Polosukhin’s February 27 talk, “Why 2025 Is the Year of Agents,” was a defining moment for NEAR at ETHDenver. Speaking on the Regeneratooor stage, he contested that 2025 marks a turning point for AI agents—decentralized, blockchain-powered, and poised to transform industries. With NEAR’s scalable infrastructure as the foundation, he outlined a world where agents handle tasks with trust and autonomy, fundamentally changing how we interact with technology. In that same talk, Illia dropped some major alpha with the Open Agent Alliance announcement. Teaming up with Coinbase and others, this collective aims to turbocharge AI-powered Web3 applications, pushing open, decentralized services forward (CoinDesk covered it here). It’s a power play, aligning with the biggest names in AI and Web3 towards the common goal of an open decentralized future.

But that wasn’t all—Illia also introduced AITP: Agent Interaction and Transaction Protocol, a groundbreaking initiative designed to create a common standard for AI agents to communicate and transact securely across networks. AITP enables AI-driven commerce, structured interactions, and interoperability between agents, setting the stage for a seamless Internet of Agents where AI can autonomously represent individuals, businesses, and institutions. More than just an advancement, AITP is a foundational step toward a fully agentic web, where AI doesn’t just assist but operates independently within decentralized ecosystems. With these announcements, NEAR isn’t just predicting the agentic web—it’s building it.

It Takes a Village

NEAR’s presence at ETHDenver was far more than a series of talks—it was a comprehensive exploration of AI, blockchain, and the transformative potential of decentralized technologies. The side events became a vibrant canvas where NEAR’s thought leaders painted a nuanced picture of technological convergence.

Mark Mi emerged as a strategic navigator, moderating “The Rise of Liquid Venture” at the Tokenized Capital Summit. His panel probed the digital transformation of venture capital, exploring how blockchain is reimagining investment models. At the AiFi Summit, he looked further ahead, forecasting the critical roles of artificial intelligence and decentralized finance in Web3’s evolving ecosystem.

Matt Lockyer challenged conventional narratives with his provocative “Beyond Memecoins” presentation. Speaking for Proximity Labs, he argued for multi-chain AI agents with genuine staying power. His talk wasn’t just a critique of speculative blockchain trends, but a forward-looking vision of how AI agents could create more meaningful, sustainable technological infrastructures.

Bowen Wang delivered perhaps the most technically profound talk, unpacking “From Sharded Blockchain to Sharded Smart Contract.” His presentation dove deep into scalability challenges, offering insights into how NEAR is approaching the critical problem of blockchain efficiency. Wang’s talk wasn’t just a technical exposition, but a blueprint for how blockchain architectures might evolve to support more complex, interconnected systems.

Together, these voices represented more than individual presentations. They crafted a comprehensive narrative about NEAR’s vision: a future where blockchain, AI, and decentralized technologies don’t just coexist, but fundamentally transform how we conceive of digital infrastructure, investment, and autonomous systems.

Community Fuel and Agent Momentum

The “Road to One Trillion Agents” wasn’t just a slogan, but a tangible roadmap. From last year’s Chain Abstraction narrative to this year’s agent-centric focus, NEAR’s ecosystem demonstrated remarkable strategic evolution. Concrete wins like the Open Agent Alliance and SWEAT’s Mobile Intelligence Agents (MIA) transformed theoretical potential into real-world progress.

Builders weren’t just listening—they were actively engaging, diving deep into agent development with an infectious enthusiasm. The ecosystem’s energy suggested something profound: NEAR isn’t just predicting the future of decentralized AI, it’s actively constructing it. By March 2, ETHDenver 2025 had crystallized into more than an event—it was a launchpad, with NEAR’s agents positioned to redefine technological boundaries.

The post ETHDenver 2025: Denver’s Crypto Beat appeared first on NEAR Protocol.

The hackathon, held from February 1–2 in San Francisco, was designed to push the boundaries of AI Agent innovation. The goal? To create agents that not only understand and analyze complex data but also explain their decisions and collaborate across blockchain networks seamlessly. As our CEO and co-founder Illia Polosukhin shared during his keynote, “AI is the last technology”.  

Organized in collaboration with Coinbase Developer Platform, Replit, and Anthropic, and sponsored by leading protocols including Virtuals Protocol, NEAR Protocol, XMTP, BASE Protocol, Hyperbolic Protocol, and Byte, the event was a melting pot of ideas and technical prowess. With over 100 participants, the hackathon provided an inclusive environment where developers could experiment with new tools, collaborate with peers, and tackle real-world challenges.

The Trillion Agent Pursuit

For the hackathon, NEAR included bounties focused on three key areas we believe pave the way to scale one trillion autonomous agents on-chain:

1. Reasoning Capabilities: Crafting agents that can explain their decisions and learn from experience. For example, imagine a smart contract auditor that not only identifies vulnerabilities but also reasons about potential attack vectors and suggests fixes.
   
2. Cross-Chain Intelligence: Building systems that can understand and optimize interactions across various blockchains. Picture a cross-chain data analyst that investigates market inefficiencies and arbitrage opportunities, clearly explaining its findings.
   
3. Practical Innovation: Developing tools and applications that translate advanced AI capabilities into accessible, real-world solutions. Consider a market sentiment analyzer that merges on-chain and off-chain data to formulate complex theories about market movements.
   

Participants were provided with a rich technical framework and resources—including our NEAR AI Agent Quickstart and key integration examples on GitHub—to jumpstart their projects. An example reference implementation offered a glimpse of a seamless NEAR Intent plus USDC flow:

https://github.com/referencedev/test-intent/blob/main/intents.py

This technical scaffold enabled teams to break down complex challenges into clear, manageable components, fostering an environment where technical depth met practical usability.

Winning Projects & Highlights

Several projects emerged as standout highlights, including two bounty winners that showcased the power of AI Agents on NEAR:

Chainsmokers (Participant: Matthew Law):
An MCP-augmented chatbot designed to create and pull in relevant tools on demand, facilitating natural language processing for cross-chain transactions through NearAI. Chainsmokers demonstrated how AI Agents can extend beyond pre-defined toolsets to provide flexible, real-time solutions.

“Crypto and its tech are often hidden from ordinary users, but the event brought together highly skilled devs. With guidance from Coinbase and Near’s engineering team, I rapidly built Chainsmoker . . . Near’s agent framework made integration seamless, and it was only exemplified by their incredible support. Seeing the community come together made it an enjoyable, educational, and deeply meaningful event.” – Matthew Law, Founder of Chainsmoker

Mosaia (Participants: Aaron Wong Ellis, Alex Alksne, Cyril Delattre):

Also known as Walley, this smart wallet agent assesses user input and wallet interactions to construct tailored investment strategies. Acting as an AI financial co-pilot, Walley continuously learns from user behavior, evolving its trading and smart contract interaction strategies.

“Building an AI agent able to transact on your behalf has been a lot of fun, and unlock a whole new word, where anyone can get access to a financial advisor that understand them. The hackathon provided a great platform to share how easy it can be to build personalized portfolio management across multiple chains through Mosaia. The support of NEAR’s team and robust developer ecosystem played a huge role in making this project a reality.” – Cyril Delattre, Mosaia Co-founder and CEO

Additional Notable Projects:

• A2A Exchange (Participant: Jared Grogan):
  A versatile agent equipped with advanced voice-to-voice capabilities, A2A Exchange leverages Herakles AI to support the Near Protocol ecosystem while delivering general-purpose crypto knowledge. This project underscored the potential of voice interfaces in enhancing blockchain interactions.
  
• Alphabot (Participants: Chetan Nandakumar, Michael Barry, Anderson Chen, BabuAravind, Kashyab Murali):
  A discovery service that enables AgentKit-powered agents to locate one another, Alphabot exemplifies how interconnected AI agents can form robust networks, enhancing both functionality and user experience.
  

The innovations showcased at the hackathon have far-reaching implications for the AI Agent ecosystem. By addressing challenges like reasoning, cross-chain coordination, and practical application, the projects not only highlight individual ingenuity but also signal a broader trend towards more adaptive, intelligent systems. The event reinforced that the future of technology will be defined by systems that learn, evolve, and operate across multiple domains seamlessly.

As we move forward, NEAR is committed to nurturing this ecosystem by continuing to provide robust tools, technical resources, and a collaborative platform for developers worldwide. The hackathon was more than a competition—it was a glimpse into the future of AI Agents, where creative problem-solving and technical excellence combine to unlock new possibilities.

We are excited about the journey ahead and look forward to seeing how these innovations shape the landscape of AI and blockchain technology. Stay tuned, and join us on the journey to one trillion agents on-chain.

Join Us at ETH Denver!

We’re also gearing up for ETH Denver with a series of exciting events. Mark your calendars and come join us for a deep dive into the NEAR AI stack, interactive workshops, networking sessions, and much more:

• Feb 25
  • The Road to One Trillion Agents (Day 1)
  • Delphi x NEAR Happy Hour 🍻
• Feb 26
  • Founders & VC’s Brunch hosted by DFG, Jsquare, and NEAR
  • The Road to One Trillion Agents (Day 2)
  • NEAR Eco Mixer 🍹
• Feb 27
  • NEAR AI Agent Games Day 🤝
• 

For more technical resources and support, visit the NEAR AI Documentation, explore our NEAR AI Agent Kit, or join our Developer Telegram.

The post AI Agents: Transforming Technology at the Coinbase Onchain AI Hackathon appeared first on NEAR Protocol.

Web3 adoption needs seamless user experiences. Today, we’re announcing two strategic RFPs (Request for Proposals) that will transform how users interact with blockchain technology:

• Maintaining and evolving the current Fast Auth network
• Building a new chain-abstracted embedded wallet solution with automatic authentication across apps

The Opportunity

Selected teams will:

• Take over and maintain the existing Fast Auth network powering over 800,000 SWEAT users
• Build Fast Auth 2.0—a developer-friendly Chain-Abstracted embedded wallet and facilitate Fast Auth 1.0 migration (part of Fast Auth RFP)
• Create Multichain One-Click Connect for automatic authentication across applications

While it’s preferred that the same team applies for both Multichain One-Click Connect and Fast Auth since the solutions complement each other well, this is not required.

NEAR’s Unique Advantage

NEAR stands apart through its innovative key rotation capabilities. Unlike traditional MPC solutions, NEAR allows true custody transfer through the ability to add and delete full access keys. This means users maintain their NEAR accounts while controlling assets across Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other chains – all while reducing dependence on centralized key holders.

NEAR’s account model gives us a competitive edge. With named accounts, subaccounts, and linkdrop technology, we offer Web2-like accounts using usernames and passwords, plus the ability to program on-chain interactions for users who don’t yet have accounts. While we recognize the need for simpler Web2-style authentication—and acknowledge solutions like Privy and Web3Auth and clean wallets contributing to growth in ecosystems like Solana and Base—we believe true crypto ownership requires self-custody. Users should be confident that regardless of which service they use to set up their wallet, they can safely transfer it without anyone else retaining access. Chain Signatures will enable us to combine easy onboarding with decentralized progressive custody not just for the NEAR ecosystem, but for every supported chain’s ecosystem.

The Power of Chain Signatures

Chain Signatures, a novel threshold signature protocol utilizing an MPC (multi-party computation) signer network on NEAR, enables account aggregation—the ability to sign transactions on any chain from a single NEAR account through one interface. This groundbreaking innovation in 2024 has already seen a rich ecosystem including Bitcoin-to-email transfers, bitcoin lending, multichain agents, and cross-chain swaps. While its potential is immense, developers currently face integration challenges requiring manual setup of chains and supporting wallets, significant hurdles remain for the average application developer.

Building the Complete Solution

This isn’t just an infrastructure build—the new maintainers of Fast Auth are being asked to build a complete embeddable wallet that works with all chains’ major wallet providers, which application developers and other wallet providers can integrate as infrastructure. Creating a truly seamless Web3 experience requires multiple components working in harmony: Chain Signatures for account creation and signing, Multichain One-Click Connect for seamless authentication, Gas Abstraction for application-subsidized transactions, and Chain-Abstracted oracles and explorers to properly display cross-chain balances and transactions. Together, these elements will enable users to transact across chains without managing private keys.

To achieve this vision, we’re launching RFPs for:

• FastAuth 1.0 Takeover + Fast Auth 2.0 – Chain Abstraction

• Multichain One-Click Connect

Why Now?

Following Keypom’s acquisition by Infinex and the sunset of Pagoda (formerly NEAR Inc), we’re taking a new approach. Rather than building in-house, we’re funding multiple qualified teams to maintain, integrate, and evolve these technologies. This strategy will create a more competitive and decentralized ecosystem.

Join Us in Building the Future

We’re seeking multiple qualified teams with experience in cross-chain products and embedded wallet solutions. The Infrastructure Committee, NEAR’s dedicated infrastructure funding body, will evaluate proposals two weeks after the submission period ends. Apply directly here and learn more about the Committee’s vision in their yearly recap here.

The post RFPs Now Open for Fast Auth and Multichain One-Click appeared first on NEAR Protocol.

The Foundation is looking to invest in agent tokens that push the boundaries of the onchain agentic design space beyond the basic social poster agents. NF will explore working with ecosystems like Sky, Frax, and more on accelerating the launch of novel use cases powered by AI agents that can unlock new flows of value. Some experiments the fund would be excited to support include agent tokenisation, agent-curated order flow, fully on-chain gaming with AI characters, permissionless AI oracles, agent curated savings accounts, financial entertainment, market maker agents, and social onboarding.

By creating this agent fund, the Foundation hopes to bring more builders onboard to the exciting possibilities unlocked by NEAR’s tech at the intersection of crypto and AI. NEAR’s fully verifiable AI agent development stack includes some unique core primitives that offer a full spectrum of developer tooling options. These include off-chain and cross-chain commitments with NEAR Intents, multi-party computation (MPC) based key management and trust minimized bridging with Chain Signatures, and trusted execution environments (TEEs) for agents to run securely.

NEAR is purpose-built to drive innovation and propel adoption of open-source, User Owned AI, empowering users to control their own data and assets while enabling personalized AI use cases that make their lives better and easier. Today’s popular AI interfaces, both closed-source and open source, lack transparency in both how models are trained and how user data is utilized. The NEAR ecosystem envisions a future in which groundbreaking AI and the sovereignty of communities and individuals are not at odds, but rather symbiotic––leading to new economic opportunities, novel business models, and a diverse technology landscape no longer controlled by a few mega-corporations. 

The agent fund will complement other builder-focused initiatives in the NEAR ecosystem including the Horizon AI accelerator cohorts and AI hackathons, empowering the next generation of founders and projects pushing the boundaries of AI and Web3. 
Builders interested in creating experimental agents and AI tokens can get started here.

The post NEAR Foundation Announces AI Agent Fund to Invest in Innovative Agent Tokens appeared first on NEAR Protocol.

NEAR DevHub

DevHub is a collaborative space where developers build for other developers, with a primary focus on developer tooling and content. As a community-driven initiative, DevHub will continue to operate with a wide range of contributors and projects, with a shared goal of building a thriving developer community on NEAR.

NEAR Dev

NEAR Dev is a new formal entity with a team comprised of extensive NEAR tech experience, focused on:

• Partner Success: Providing expert technical consulting and support to top NEAR projects.
• DevTools: Building, maintaining, and coordinating the development of essential tools and content for developers, in collaboration with the DevHub community.
• DevRel: Streamlining the onboarding process and providing resources (such as documentation, tutorials, and workshops) to help developers build quickly on NEAR.

NEAR Dev will collaborate closely with DevHub communities, helping the NEAR Foundation effectively scale its support for teams and projects that are building for other developers within the NEAR ecosystem. 

Community Projects

DevHub has fostered the creation of various projects, including Hackbox, which focuses on hackathon coordination (watch for their update in the upcoming NEAR Town Hall). These projects operate independently with their own goals and scope. While hackathon coordination is not part of NEAR Dev’s scope, the NEAR Dev team will collaborate with NEAR Hackbox and other community projects as needed to support ecosystem partners. 

Looking Ahead

The launch of NEAR Dev is an important evolution for the NEAR developer community, providing dedicated support where it is needed most. By prioritizing top app developers and actively collaborating with the broader DevHub community, NEAR Dev is uniquely positioned to tackle key technical challenges and drive the expansion of the NEAR ecosystem. For more information on the latest developer updates from both NEAR Dev and the broader community, sign up for the DevHub newsletter.

The post Ecosystem Update: Announcing NEAR Dev, a DevHub spinout appeared first on NEAR Protocol.

What’s Happening?

Our mission is clear: chart the path to scale one trillion autonomous agents on blockchain networks. Through keynotes, technical workshops, whiteboard sessions, and interactive content, you’ll discover the cutting-edge tech driving autonomy, trust, and security in Web3.

Expect technical demos, hands-on learning, and community discussions addressing the biggest challenges in scaling decentralized AI. Whether you’re a protocol developer, researcher, or founder, you’ll leave with actionable insights and practical solutions for building at scale.

Can’t-Miss Events

Here’s the full lineup of events to help you maximize your ETHDenver experience:

Feb 25

• 🛠️ The Road to One Trillion Agents (Day 1)
  Dive into foundational concepts and practical applications of autonomous agents on NEAR.
• 🍻 Delphi x NEAR Happy Hour
  Connect with peers over drinks and ideas!

Feb 26

• 🥞 Founders & VCs Brunch
  Co-hosted by DFG, Jsquare, and NEAR, this brunch is perfect for networking with top-tier investors and founders.
• 🛠️ The Road to One Trillion Agents (Day 2)
  Deep-dive into advanced topics with experts from the NEAR ecosystem.
• 🍹 NEAR Eco Mixer
  Unwind and mingle with builders, developers, and innovators shaping the NEAR ecosystem.

Feb 27

• 🤝 NEAR Agent Games Day
  Join us for a day filled with interactive games, networking and insights into building impactful projects in the NEAR ecosystem. Whether you’re a developer, creator, or enthusiast, it’s the perfect opportunity to connect, learn, and have fun! 
• 💰 Discover Protocol Rewards
  A team member will be on-site to answer your questions and guide you through the process. Are you building the next big thing on NEAR? Don’t miss your chance to earn up to $10,000 per month while developing your project. 👉 Apply Now

Feb 28

• 🥞 ETH Rising hosted by Re, Bitwise and NEAR
  Join us at ETH Rising, where we explore the pivotal crossroads shaping the future of DeFi.

Why Join Us?

• Gain hands-on experience with NEAR’s AI stack driving autonomy and scalability.
• Connect with a global community of developers, researchers, and investors innovating in AI and blockchain.
• Be part of the movement shaping the future of autonomous systems and the path to One trillion agents.

Let’s build the future together. Don’t miss your chance to connect, collaborate, and innovate at ETHDenver 2025.

👉 Register now and secure your spot!
Learn More & RSVP

See you in Denver!

The post NEAR at ETHDenver 2025: Join the Road to One Trillion Agents! appeared first on NEAR Protocol.

2024: From Duct Tape to Infrastructure 

In just eight months since its inception, the Infrastructure Committee has become the most prominent open grant mechanism in the NEAR ecosystem in response to “infra not infra-ing.” 

The current infrastructure committee is composed of technical leaders from around the NEAR ecosystem: Bowen Wang, head of NEAR One; Alex Shevchenko, founder of Aurora; Eric Winer, CTO of Pagoda; Vlad Frolov of NEAR DevHub; Evgeny Kuzyakov of FastNEAR—with admin support from the NEAR Foundation and DevHub contributors.

The committee’s impact has been substantial, supporting critical infrastructure that powers the entire ecosystem. The Infrastructure Committee approved 24 proposals, out of 99 submissions, in 2024.

Some notable 2024 highlights include:

• Enhanced Wallet Infrastructure: Supported most major native wallets (NEAR Mobile Wallet, HERE Wallet, Nightly Wallet, Meteor Wallet, MyNEARWallet transition to Meteor), enabling innovations like HERE Wallet’s HOT wallet (which became one of Web3’s most-used dApps), Meteor Wallet’s successful launch of Harvest Moon, and the Nightly Social Login
• Decentralized RPC Services: Successfully transitioned RPC services to decentralized providers (Lava), improving network reliability and performance, and onboarding additional providers like FastNEAR and BlockPi, significantly enhancing RPC node response times and uptime
• Multiple Analytics Vendors: Funded NEARBlocks, the primary explorer on NEAR, and onboarded multiple analytics providers, including Token Terminal, Chainspect, and Intear, strengthening core infrastructure tools and analytics capabilities
• Pagoda Sunset: Supported the transition of critical services to sustainable, community-driven alternatives with the wind-down of Pagoda services
• Innovative Endeavors: Funded DevHub’s self-service treasury app and an exciting partnership with Mercuryo for a NEAR-branded Mastercard
• Create On-Chain Funding Process: Established an on-chain process for RFPs and proposals through DevHub’s portal product

Looking Ahead: 2025 Priorities

Based on extensive builder feedback and ecosystem needs, the Infrastructure Committee’s focus in 2025 includes:

• Continuous Improvement: Continuing to support infra and ongoing commitments from the previous year, including but not limited to the wallets mentioned above, Fast NEAR, and NEARBlocks 
• Working Groups: Setting up working groups to manage accounts, respond to proposals actively, find innovation, and draft RFPs so that ecosystem development can become more proactive instead of reactive. Expect RFPs to be posted regularly throughout the year. 
• Wallet Improvements: NEAR single sign-on from NEAR wallet to Solana app, on-ramps, and off-ramps
• Chain Abstraction Infrastructure: Supporting the development of tools and services to make NEAR more accessible and interoperable with other blockchain ecosystems (multichain explorer, oracles, Omnitoken, Omnibalance support)
• Decentralized AI Infrastructure: Investing in foundational infrastructure to support NEAR’s growing role in decentralized AI applications from across the ecosystem

Get Involved

Do you have an idea or see a gap that needs addressing? The Infrastructure Committee welcomes participation from the entire NEAR ecosystem through the NEAR Infrastructure Committee Portal. Ecosystem members are welcome to help create strategic RFPs and vet proposals in the following ways: 

• Builders: Share your infrastructure needs and pain points
• Infrastructure Providers: Submit proposals for innovative solutions
• Community Members: Provide feedback on current infrastructure and future needs

Thanks to everyone who contributed to critical NEAR infrastructure in 2024 and the IC looks forward to even more great work in 2025.

The post NEAR Infrastructure Committee: First Year Recap & 2025 Priorities appeared first on NEAR Protocol.