NEAR's original thesis didn't work. The pivot is brilliant.
The original bet: build the best L1 runtime. Async Rust, WASM, sharded by design. Attract developers, get killer apps, win on technical merit. I joined for this thesis.
What actually happened: DeFi capital stayed locked on Ethereum. New developers landed on Solana - Phantom wallet, memecoin culture, consumer DEX UX. NEAR ended up squeezed between two: better technology than both, market share from neither. "Best runtime" lost to network effects on one side and consumer wedge on the other.
The pivot: stop competing for developers. Make crypto work with whatever they already use. The tech stack is purpose-built for this:
- NEAR Intents: user signs one intent on NEAR ("swap X for Y, settle on chain Z"), solvers compete to execute it across whatever chains have the liquidity. No NEAR TVL needed.
- MPC Chain Signatures: your NEAR account controls keys on Ethereum, Solana, BTC, anywhere. One identity, every chain. No new wallets, no bridge contracts.
- Confidential Intents: same mechanism, execution inside hardware-secured enclaves. Sender invisible to the public chain. Already 42% of Intents volume - private execution is the default for nearly half of all activity.
- NEAR AI agents: autonomous programs that compose all of the above.
Result: a user opens existing wallet, sends ETH on Ethereum, USDC on Solana, BTC on Bitcoin from one balance. Buys ZEC and shields it in the same flow. Doesn't know NEAR is underneath, doesn't care. For privacy on existing chains, toggle one switch. Same wallet, no new tooling, transactions invisible to the public chain.
The economics make it structurally better. Every other L1 burned hundreds of millions in treasury bootstrapping TVL through boosted APRs on DEX forks. Mercenary capital came in, incentives ended, TVL left. NEAR Intents needs zero TVL on NEAR - solvers route through multiple CEXes and DEXes, wherever the liquidity already lives. NEAR doesn't compete for liquidity, it connects to it.
The original infrastructure investments map perfectly to what chain abstraction needs: sharded execution handles solver volume, WASM gives solver flexibility, MPC keys sign across any chain, TEE infrastructure delivers privacy. The runtime that "failed" turned out to be perfect for orchestration.
NEAR didn't double down on the losing bet, and didn't quit. It pivoted - and caught every major narrative crypto is running on right now:
- Chain abstraction (one identity across 35+ chains)
- Privacy (the only cross-chain confidential execution layer at scale - including native ZEC shielding without leaving the wallet)
- AI agents (founder who co-authored the Transformer paper, autonomous programs that transact privately across chains)
- Stablecoin payments (real cross-chain flows, not VC slideware)
Getting one narrative right is luck. Capturing four at once means the infrastructure was built before the narratives existed.
Most protocols can't pivot. NEAR pivoted and won on multiple fronts simultaneously.
What's Special about Avalanche 🚨?
Been lowkey obsessed with Avalanche lately and I gotta say… this is the one chain that actually feels built for what crypto’s becoming in 2026.
Most L1s are either blazing fast but get congested the second real volume hits, or they’re "custom" but a pain to launch and use.
Avalanche just skips all that drama. You can spin up your own sovereign L1 (what they used to call subnets) for basically nothing, now thanks to the upgrades, full custom rules, your own validators, whatever compliance you need and it still talks seamlessly to everything else on the network.
•No congestion
•No trade-offs
And the crazy part?
The big institutions are already all-in. -BlackRock’s tokenized fund
-Progmat moving billions in Japanese securities to a dedicated L1
-Citi pilots
-FIS powering bank liquidity
-Tassat’s Lynq going live…
We’re talking real billions in RWAs flowing through these things with sub-second finality and fees that actually stay cheap.
They’ve got the ETF, the digital commodity status, Retro9000 still dropping grants to real builders... this isn’t "someday" tech.
It’s happening right now!!
If you’re building anything serious (DeFi, gaming, payments, whatever), Avalanche feels like the quiet adult in the room while everyone else is still yelling about speed.
Sleeping giant vibes. What am I missing??
$AVAX is BOLD!!!
Podcast with Oration (Part 5)
He has taken a lot of bullets but still stands as a gallant Soldier. our guest today has master the Art and has became an art to study
Permit me to call him Crypto Professor, cos yeah.. he's super good in his writing etc, Meet @vinibarbosabr
_______________
> Briefly Tell us about yourself
Ans: I'm Vini, from Brazil, and i'm cypherpunk. my background is communications (advertising, public relations, journalism), but I have expanded my horizon while working in tech to learn coding and cybersecurity.
>When did you join web 3 or crypto
Ans: I started writing about crypto in 2020 and joined the industry officially in 2021 working for a news portal.
> When and how did you join NEAR
Ans: I bought my first $NEAR in 2023, mostly due to learning about it during my researches and interacting with people on X.
> What's your stake about governance and how do you see HoS in NEAR (win or loss)?
Ans: Onchain governance voting is still in its baby steps and i remain highly skeptical for now that it is mature enough to make highly controversial decisions. however, HoS appear to be going in the right direction, has a limited and clear scope defined (while protocol governance remains at the protocol level) and a promising vision if done right.
> What are you building/creating recently
Ans: I have thecoding, that is an umbrella brand i'm working on. it currently has a near validator, 2 substacks (thecoding.substack in english and codigoaberto.substack in portuguese) and some more things coming soon.
> Any major win in NEAR or in crypto
Ans: Not sure what you mean by that. The tech and what it offers is the win. i have been living 100% of crypto since 2024.
> You're someone that write unbiased on topics in crypto and outside, how has the journey been and what's the future of it?
Ans: Writing unbiased and balanced takes will hardly get me viral to the masses, but builds a solid reputation for an audience that matters, imo. it's tougher to monetize the content and some months i might struggle bc of that, but i believe it will pay off in the long run.
> One advise for normies in crypto or near legion
Ans: Be curious, learn every day, and ask hard questions.
> Which AI coins are you holding and why?
Ans: $NEAR -- I hold what i use and support. never bought any crypto for speculation only and i don't plan to change that.
> How do you see this cycle, do you think it will favor $NEAR?
Ans: Yes, highly. there is a huge fundamental asymmetry in how much near should be worth and how much it's worth, imo. but the market (and the industry) is slowly picking up, things usually happen very fast once momentum kicks off.
> If you're opportune to be "Illia polosukhin" of NEAR in a day, what will you do differently that he's not doing rn
Ans: communicate more with the community and talk more about the tech stack behind near (he or someone else)
> Parting words
Ans: Thanks for the interview and the great questions. if anyone who has $NEAR wants to support my work, they can stake to thecoding.pool.near. i also take sponsorship deals for authentic research articles and provide freelance services in technical writing, educational blog posts, and news reporting. i love to work with NEAR ecosystem projects.
________________
Wow, I told Vini; I'll like to be like him when I grow up but I need to rethink, cos I'm not sure I would want to fight battles, he did. A nice session, keep shining Vini.. you're indeed a role model to many, hit up for deal, he'll deliver 👏.
Till Next podcast
stay with us
#podcastwithO
⛽ Gas Abstraction is live on RHEA.
Keep 100% of your $NEAR staked on validators or LSTs
Use $USDT, $USDC, or $xRHEA to pay gas across Swap, Lending, Staking, and Bridging — seamlessly.
Only on https://t.co/qoVbvkUzel
Podcast with Oration (Part 4)
NEAR friendly wallet address features has won many soul, our guest today? is one of the lucky ones
A passionate NEAR contributor in Reddit app, Nealot fun play 18N winner, Meet @rykc48
_________________
>Briefly Tell us about yourself
Ans: I am 40 years old and I work in the finance sector.
>When did you join web 3 or crypto
Ans: 14 February 2024
> When and how did you join NEAR
Ans: I joined the NEAR ecosystem through the Hotwallet project. In short, I started learning about the entire crypto world from there. This project was my first crypto wallet, and NEAR was also my first token.
> Tell us your Ironclaw experience
Ans: Honestly, it means a lot to me. I get support from it on all matters at every stage of my life. It's solutions are both quick and very acceptable.
> What are you building/creating recently
Ans: I've currently reached 8K karma on Reddit in just one month, and I'm continuing to improve.
> Any major win in NEAR or in crypto
Ans: Yes, I made very good profits with $NEAR and $Jambo. Jambo, in particular, holds unforgettable memories for me.
> I saw you won 18N in Nealot, how did it happened?
Ans: Yes, I am very lucky and happy. It was a rewarding opportunity to participate in a new project and the NEAR ecosystem with 5 NEAR members.
> One advise for normies in crypto or NEAR legion
Ans: I've now reached the Vanguard level. It's a challenging level, but the reward is amazing, I hope everyone reaches it. The rewards never end, you might wake up to surprises any day. 300 $NEAR and $75 Donna are great rewards, more are on the way.
> Which AI coins are you holding and why?
Ans: I'm only sticking with $NEAR, and the innovations within this ecosystem—NEAR Legoin, Ironclaw, Intents, and more—are really great projects.
> Parting words
Ans: Thank you very much for your invitation. NEARvana!
___________________
Amazing session, I really want to be like Rykc, he wins effortless...thanks for being a guest, more karma in your reddit journey.
Till next Podcast
Stay with us
#podcastwithO
They thought it was just sleep.
Wake up, Dino. Sleep was just the beginning.
What begins at night carries forward -
growing, evolving, night after night.
Becoming something… intelligent.
The countdown to TGE has begun 🌀
https://t.co/HCJBJmi2pm
Podcast with Oration (Part 3)
There are people that came to NEAR to create FUD, but for our guest today? He came to be a positive change in #NEAR
Meet a passionate builder, ironclaw Ambassador @jemartel98
__________________
>Briefly Tell us about yourself
Ans: I'm Jean. I'm French Canadian. i like the color green, no not because of NEAR. i have few years of grinding code not from a pure school but by passion. I’ve strive to undestand technology from the bottom up and put them where they belong.
>When did you join web 3 or crypto
Ans: Many many year ago but was only doing BTC and did not think much of it
>When and how did you join NEAR
Ans: Joined in 2024 from crypto. com
i was just looking at what existed in the alt market i tried a few chain (eg: eth and friends) and could not get my head that i needed money to transfer money to this day, i dont undestand why it cost me 10$ to move 10$. NEAR UX felt good, wallet worked clear name (mpc) .near one
>Tell us your Ironclaw experience
Ans: it's great software that will evolve into something great.
> What are you building recently
Ans: Too many things!! NEAR is so fun to build on top! If you look my github / kampouse, you will find me try alot of things, i even made a compiler, learned alot in the process.
i forked outlayer made it work without infra made dashboard for rhea that was used! Most of the thing i build are not full on product, they're tech experimentation (What are the part that a product will use to be the best in its category, how can we use NEAR better, how can we have better.
Not everyone care to know how internal of a wasm deployment work and why there borsh serialazion error, but i do, i build so we can a have a better NEAR on "primitive at the time"
> Any major win in NEAR or in crypto
Ans: if I'm still in NEAR its because there something that can be good / is good
> How do you see NEAR ecosystem
Ans: its evolved in the good sense before legion it felt fragmented but its as gotten better. what i mean i was discord and there was no real chat and was filled with bots that wanted money you know the drill...
> One advise for normies in crypto or near legion
Ans: Devils lives in the details you will find the best of the tech but not on the TL
>Which AI coins are you holding and why?
Ans: There's no such thing.
9. Parting words
Ans: Thanks you and also TL is not reality always verify onchain that where the truth is.
______________________
Gosh, I have wear a beautiful smile since the start of this podcast, Jean is a trailblazer, i wish you luck in all your building
Till the next podcast
Stay with us
#podcastwithO
We’re not here to amplify the haters or worship the lovers.
We’re here to bring both sides together and make $NEAR great again.
Bring back the builders.
Bring back the community.
Bring back the believers.
Most importantly, bring back hope.
WHAT'S GOING ON WITH @CosmoseAI's KAIKAI?
5 kaiching-controlled wallets have just sent over 120K $NEAR to treasury.kaiching amid discussions of the project having ceased operations
Here are the transactions from today:
+ coldwallet.kaiching sent 10.9993 Ⓝ
+ hotwallet.kaiching sent 15,281 Ⓝ
+ reserve.kaiching sent 90,010.0504 Ⓝ
+ users.kaiching sent 7,760.5 Ⓝ
+ wallet.kaiching sent 10,495 Ⓝ
treasury.kaiching has a balance of 1,305,990 Ⓝ
In April, NEAR monthly active addresses dropped from >40M to 2.2M
KAI-CHING was, knowingly, the largest metric-activity factor in the NEAR blockchain and we also know that gas fess were, to some extent, subsidized by NEAR endowments to abstract the user experience
Some people are calling NEAR's activity "fake metrics," because of that, which I strongly disagree with as these were, afaik, real addresses interacting with the NEAR blockchain under the hood of what looked like a popular app
Nevertheless, the community would certainly benefit from more clarity here -- either by CosmoseAI or NEAR teams
A few questions that should be answered:
1. What has happened to Cosmose, KAIKAI, and KAI-CHING?
2. What does the team intend to do with these 1.3M NEAR in treasury.kaiching
3. Why did the team start to consolidate this money there today?
I might have more questions for later