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Overview
NEAR Protocol is a high-performance, layer-1 blockchain designed for scalability, usability, and developer-friendly infrastructure. It uses sharding, fast consensus, and a unique account model to support real-time applications with low fees and high throughput. NEAR’s recent innovations - such as 600ms block times, 1.2s finality, and Chain Signatures for cross-chain signing - position it as a leader in chain abstraction and decentralized AI infrastructure. With tools like NEAR Intents, developers can build seamless, cross-chain user experiences, while its focus on composability and user ownership makes NEAR a foundational platform for the next wave of Web3 and AI-powered applications.
In Q2 2025, NEAR Protocol made significant strides in infrastructure, performance, improved their website, and cemented their place as a top chain for AI at Permissionless. The NEAR Infrastructure Committee selected Rath and HOT Labs as winners of the Chain Abstracted Relayer RFP, providing SDKs to streamline gas abstraction and multichain development via Chain Signatures. NEAR also expanded Chain Signatures with EdDSA support, enabling seamless cross-chain signing for networks like Solana and Sui. On the performance front, NEAR launched 600ms block times and 1.2s finality, a milestone enabled by Nightshade 2.0’s optimistic blocks. The Protocol Rewards program evolved into a cohort-based system supporting post-hackathon builders, distributing over $200K to 30+ teams who demonstrated real-world traction and on-chain contributions.
Complementing these developments, DeFi integrations flourished: KyberSwap and Infinex adopted NEAR Intents and Chain Signatures for seamless, cross-chain swaps including Bitcoin, DOGE, and XRP. Zcash joined the NEAR Intents ecosystem, enhancing private and permissionless asset transfers. Meanwhile, Delta Trade V2 launched as an AI-powered yield infrastructure and Templar Protocol went live with Cypher Lending for BTC-backed loans without wrapping or KYC. In the broader ecosystem, NEAR made a strong showing at TOKEN2049 Dubai, led community-focused events like the Useful Agents Hackathon, and supported open-source AI projects at BUIDL Asia. Enterprise momentum continued with Crynux’s decentralized AI orchestration layer and the launch of Intellex AI Protocol, positioning NEAR at the forefront of composable, cross-chain AI infrastructure.
Key Developments: Q2 2025
NEAR Infrastructure Committee announced the winners of its Chain Abstracted Relayer RFP: Rath and HOT Labs, two teams selected to deliver SDKs that simplify gas abstraction and cross-chain development for builders using NEAR’s Chain Signatures ecosystem. Rath's high-speed Tachyon relayer, already used in DeFi protocols like Synthetix, supports ultra-fast interactions across 16+ chains, while HOT Labs brings deep experience from its HOT Wallet and Protocol, offering Telegram-integrated cross-chain functionality and a proven infrastructure for gas relaying. This dual-vendor approach ensures flexibility, reliability, and competition, enabling seamless meta-transactions, gas sponsorships via NEAR Intents, and better multichain UX.
NEAR expanded its Chain Signatures framework by adding EdDSA support, enabling cross-chain transaction signing for networks such as Solana, TON, Stellar, Sui, and Aptos. Building on its initial ECDSA-based implementation launched in August 2024, this update strengthened NEAR’s chain abstraction capabilities, allowing NEAR accounts to serve as universal cryptographic identities across a broader ecosystem. With Ed25519-based EdDSA integration, developers gained improved efficiency, enhanced security, and the ability to build unified backends, cross-chain smart contracts, and multi-chain wallets without complex key management. The update also introduced new use cases such as unified liquidity, cross-chain governance, and prediction markets, advancing NEAR’s vision of a cohesive, interoperable blockchain landscape where networks complement rather than compete.
On May 14, 2025, NEAR Protocol launched 600-millisecond block times and 1.2-second finality on mainnet, setting a new benchmark for blockchain speed and security. Enabled by the "optimistic block" upgrade in Nightshade 2.0, this advancement allows shards to process optimistically without waiting for full block arrival, cutting latency in half. NEAR’s unique architecture - combining sharding, Doomslug consensus, and now optimistic execution - delivers real-time finality that surpasses competitors like Solana and Ethereum L2s. This speed unlocks seamless UX for developers and AI agents, enabling real-time composability, fast on-chain feedback loops, and secure execution without confirmation delays. With plans to reduce block times to 200 milliseconds by the end of 2025, NEAR continues to lead in performance, scalability, and readiness for AI-driven, decentralized applications.
NEAR Foundation announced the evolution of its Protocol Rewards program, designed to support builders who graduate from hackathons and commit to developing real, impactful projects. Unlike traditional grants or accelerators, Protocol Rewards now offers cohort-based funding tied to measurable contributions - such as code activity, traction, and community engagement - aligned with NEAR’s ecosystem goals. Since its late 2024 launch, the program has supported over 30 teams, distributed $200K in rewards, and driven thousands of development milestones. Builders like Ping Pay, YieldGuard, Finowl, and Benevio have transformed MVPs into real products through access to mentorship, funding, and ecosystem exposure.
NEAR and Agora launched House of Stake, a next-generation staking and governance system where AI agents evolve from governance copilots into fully empowered delegates and decision makers. The system introduces veNEAR token-locking for long-term alignment, permissionless delegated voting, and sustainable ecosystem incentives. It also serves as a launchpad for AI-native agents that can simulate proposal outcomes, vote on behalf of stakeholders, and eventually coordinate decentralized ecosystems, pushing forward the future of scalable, user-owned governance.
NEAR introduced Shade Agents, the first truly autonomous and verifiable AI agents that operate as multichain smart contracts. These agents leverage Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) for secure execution and decentralized key management, enabling persistent account control and eliminating single points of failure. By autonomously signing transactions, fetching AI data, and interacting across multiple chains, Shade Agents redefine blockchain automation and open new possibilities for secure, proactive, and verifiable onchain applications.
The Mindshare Index AI Agent became the world’s first autonomous trading bot that executes trades based on social sentiment signals captured by Kaito AI. Built using Shade Agent technology on NEAR, it operates fully onchain with verifiable logic and no manual intervention. This innovation highlights NEAR’s leadership in AI-native applications and its push for transparency by imposing protocol-level tariffs on unverifiable agents.
NEAR integrated Coinbase's x4O2 payment protocol with NEAR Intents, enabling users and AI agents to purchase USDC through simple HTTP requests without needing blockchain knowledge. The demo highlights a seamless three-step process involving client-side signing, server-side processing, and on-chain settlement through a facilitator. This advancement paves the way for autonomous agents to swap tokens, deploy to trusted environments, and interact across chains using NEAR Intents without relying on complex APIs or third-party services.
Ecosystem
DeFi
KyberSwap, one of the leading decentralized exchange (DEX) aggregators, integrated NEAR Intents to enhance its cross-chain DeFi capabilities. This integration enables faster finality, deeper liquidity, and more efficient token swaps without the need for bridging or dealing with slippage. Through NEAR’s Intent-based architecture, KyberSwap users can now seamlessly trade assets like Bitcoin, Dogecoin, USDC, Tether, and NEAR across chains using any WalletConnect-compatible EVM wallet, or native wallets from Solana, NEAR, Bitcoin, and Dogecoin ecosystems.
Infinex announced the successful integration of NEAR Intents and Chain Signatures, enabling seamless self-custodial access to Bitcoin, Dogecoin, and XRP across multiple chains. This collaboration removes long-standing barriers for assets without native smart contracts by allowing users to swap and bridge them without bridging, wrapping, or managing multiple wallets. Infinex’s Swidge feature now leverages NEAR’s multi-party Chain Signatures for secure cross-chain signing and NEAR Intents to simplify user interactions by executing high-level transaction outcomes via solver networks. The integration brings over 100K assets across 13 chains into a unified, user-friendly DeFi experience, reflecting a shared vision between Infinex and NEAR to advance chain abstraction and make crypto truly accessible.
Bitwise filed an S-1 registration with the U.S. SEC for a spot NEAR ETF, aiming to bring the NEAR token - used on the high-performance NEAR Protocol - into the regulated investment space. The ETF would track NEAR’s price (minus fees) and name Coinbase Custody as its custodian, though the management fee, exchange, and ticker remain unspecified.
Rhea Finance launched a Points System to incentivize user activity across trading, liquidity provision, and community engagement before their token launch in Q3. Users can earn Trading Points through swaps and margin trading, Liquidity Points by providing or borrowing liquidity, and Community Points via referrals, content creation, and social media participation. All points contribute to leaderboards that recognize top contributors in each category, with high-ranking users gaining reputation benefits, oRHEA conversion boosts, and potential access to airdrops and exclusive rewards.
NEAR Protocol announced the integration of Zcash into NEAR Intents, enabling permissionless, self-custodial swaps between Zcash and dozens of other assets. This collaboration enhances cross-chain privacy and usability by combining NEAR’s intent-based architecture with Zcash’s shielded transaction features. In a joint discussion, NEAR co-founder Illia Polosukhin and Zcash co-founder Zooko highlighted key themes such as privacy at rest via shielded pools, simplified UX through intent abstraction, and the role of Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) in secure, decentralized applications.
Templar Protocol officially launched on mainnet, introducing Cypher Lending, a decentralized lending platform that enables users to borrow dollars against Bitcoin - with no wrapping, bridging, or KYC required. The protocol offers a privacy-focused, non-custodial solution for unlocking Bitcoin’s value in DeFi.
Delta Trade unveiled Delta Trade V2, a major evolution from a simple trading tool into a full-fledged, AI-powered yield infrastructure on NEAR. The rebrand introduces a refined UI, grid-based strategy vaults, real-time analytics, and deeper composability - aiming to make liquidity provision both intelligent and accessible. Delta V2 simulates concentrated liquidity strategies similar to Solana’s CLMMs, but with a unique NEAR-native twist powered by AI agents. Upcoming features include the PnL Royale trading competition, AI Strategy Agent for automated yield optimization, Apollo Pool Yield Looping for compounding returns, and liquidity bootstrapping campaigns.
Community
At TOKEN2049 Dubai, NEAR made a powerful impact through strategic panels, hands-on workshops, and thought leadership centered on the convergence of AI and Web3. Kicking off at the Staking Summit, NEAR’s CFO joined telecom leaders to highlight the role of infrastructure in decentralization, while workshops showcased new validator tools. A private investor roundtable reinforced NEAR’s vision of composable, user-owned ecosystems, energizing capital partners. NEAR AI took center stage at Multichain Day and deAI Day, emphasizing the protocol’s unique strengths for powering intelligent, decentralized systems. Co-founder Illia Polosukhin’s keynote and panel appearances underscored blockchain’s role as a trust layer for AI, advocating for open, transparent, and sovereign digital infrastructure.
The inaugural Useful Agents Hackathon, hosted in San Francisco by NEAR AI, SF Compute, and Electric Capital, brought together over 100 developers to build AI agents that solve real-world problems with measurable results. Emphasizing practical utility over hype, teams were required to benchmark their agents’ performance with metrics like speed, accuracy, and error rates. The winning projects included Postt, an AI social media manager with a 92% approval rate and 3,000% increase in impressions; DiligenceAI, a multi-agent due diligence tool that outperformed manual methods in speed and risk detection; and NEAR Food, a privacy-preserving agent for finding free food events.
At BUIDL Asia 2025 in Seoul, NEAR demonstrated its continued focus on building meaningful, AI-integrated blockchain infrastructure amid broader market uncertainty. The event emphasized quality over quantity, with NEAR co-hosting the Open Source AI Summit and sponsoring the BUIDL AI Hackathon, where standout projects like Cure Me Baby, a privacy-focused mental health AI agent, received top honors. NEAR leaders took the stage to advocate for user-owned AI, intentional design over modular dogma, and multi-chain collaboration over competition.
Enterprise & RWAs
Crynux announced the release of Crynux Node v2.5.0, inviting the NEAR community to help power decentralized AI by running nodes on their own devices. Crynux is a permissionless, serverless, and trustless orchestration layer that distributes AI tasks across edge devices, offering a low-cost, scalable alternative to traditional cloud infrastructure.
Intellex AI Protocol unveiled its vision for a decentralized infrastructure powering swarms of autonomous AI agents, designed to overcome the limitations of closed, siloed, and inefficient AI platforms. Intellex enables the creation of a tradeable digital AI workforce - where AI agents (Activators) are governed by token holders, transforming intelligence into a liquid, on-chain asset class. Backed by leading Web3 and AI firms including NEAR, SL2, Faculty Group, Portico Ventures, and Purechain Capital, Intellex positions itself as a foundational layer in the NEAR ecosystem, enabling secure, composable, and cross-chain AI applications for the decentralized future.
NEAR Intents has seen consistent upward momentum in usage as more developers and users embrace intent-based execution across DeFi activities. This pattern, visible on analytical platforms such as Dune, suggests growing confidence in the system’s ability to abstract away transactional complexity, allowing users to express high-level objectives like swaps or staking and have off-chain solvers fulfill them efficiently. Since its launch in late 2024, NEAR Intents has evolved into a composable on-chain primitive that enhances user experiences, streamlines multichain transactions, and lays the groundwork for AI-driven financial workflows.
Bitwise launched the NEAR Staking ETP on Deutsche Börse Xetra, providing investors with fully collateralized exposure to NEAR while capturing staking rewards within the product. Backed by NEAR tokens held in institutional-grade cold storage, the ETP tracks the CF NEAR Staked Return Index and offers daily liquidity through traditional brokerage accounts. With over $51 million in assets under management and a net staking reward of 5.5 percent, the product simplifies institutional access to NEAR’s ecosystem while maintaining regulatory compliance under a German-approved prospectus.
Closing Thoughts
Q2 2025 marked a pivotal quarter for NEAR Protocol, characterized by major infrastructure upgrades, ecosystem-wide integrations, and continued momentum in both developer activity and user adoption. From the rollout of 600ms block times and 1.2s finality to the expansion of Chain Signatures with EdDSA support, NEAR has positioned itself as a top-tier platform for scalable, secure, and composable multichain applications. The selection of Rath and HOT Labs for the Chain Abstracted Relayer RFP, the evolution of the Protocol Rewards program, and strong DeFi integrations like KyberSwap and Infinex further strengthened NEAR’s foundation for cross-chain innovation. Collectively, these developments underscore NEAR's commitment to performance, usability, and developer empowerment in an increasingly complex blockchain landscape.
Beyond core infrastructure, NEAR saw robust growth across community, enterprise, and AI ecosystems. Events like TOKEN2049, the Useful Agents Hackathon, and BUIDL Asia highlighted NEAR’s leadership in decentralized AI, while Crynux and Intellex introduced real-world applications for AI at scale. In DeFi, new launches such as Delta Trade V2 and Templar Protocol reflected a maturing financial layer, with HOT Wallet and Kaikai leading user and transaction activity respectively. NEAR continues to prove itself as a resilient, forward-looking protocol driving the next era of Web3 and AI convergence.
