NEAR Foundation unveiled Near.com in San Francisco—a new crypto wallet and consumer app positioned as a "super app" aiming to make blockchain technology feel as simple as a traditional finance app while betting on the convergence with artificial intelligence (AI).
Co-author of the seminal Transformer paper, NEAR co-founder Illia Polosukhin said at the launch: "We are moving into a world where AI becomes the interface to our data." He stressed that as AI agents take on tasks like booking travel, managing emails, or handling online purchases, they need the ability to execute transactions—something blockchain infrastructure can provide through programmable payments, global transfers, and automated settlement without traditional intermediaries.
Wallet Design: Eliminating On-Chain Friction
Near.com removes the friction that has made crypto feel complex—gas fees, private key management, and blockchain switching. Users manage Bitcoin, stablecoins, NFTs, and other tokens from one interface. Polosukhin put it bluntly: "You don't think about blockchains, gas, or keys. You just use it as your primary wallet."
A key feature is the confidential mode, which keeps balances, transfers, and trading activity private while maintaining the network's security framework. "Everything you do on-chain is transparent. That's not realistic for everyday use," said Polosukhin. The privacy layer also benefits AI agents that may need to transact without exposing strategy or sensitive data.
AI + Crypto: The Next Growth Wave
NEAR sees AI agents becoming primary on-chain economic actors. "When AI systems start interacting with each other," Polosukhin said, "they become economic actors—negotiating, paying, coordinating tasks." Near.com is built to serve this layer: both a user-friendly wallet for humans and an economic backend for AI-driven activities.
Market data shows NEAR token dropped about 3% over the past 24 hours, trading around $3.45.
Polosukhin wrapped up by shifting perspective: the stack is ready, components are in place, the product is live. "Now we pivot—how do we scale adoption and bring this to billions of people worldwide."