Too many people are writing about Near, so let me quickly summarize what NEAR has been up to recently. Basically, it’s just four things: 1. Building a cross-chain exchange The core is NEAR Intents + http://(near.com). Users don’t need to worry about which chain, how to bridge, or where the gas comes from—they just specify what asset they want to swap to. The backend Solver automatically finds the optimal path to complete cross-chain transactions and settlements. 2. Enabling private transactions NEAR has brought Confidential Intents to the forefront, hiding fund sources, transaction paths, and wallet associations. Even Hyperliquid perpetuals are now integrated, allowing assets from 35+ chains to directly trade Perp. 3. Innovating with options-style airdrops NEAR@3.33 isn’t your typical airdrop. It locks in rewards for you, but they only unlock 1:1 as NEAR if confidential TVL and NEAR’s price simultaneously meet certain conditions. In essence, it ties user growth, TVL, and token price together. 4. Building a settlement backend for AI agents NEAR AI, Shade Agents, confidential GPUs, and Agent payments are all moving in one direction: in the future, AI will hold its own keys, perform cross-chain transactions, call tools, and pay in stablecoins, while NEAR handles signatures, privacy, and settlements in the backend. The NEAR team has always been good at shaking things up. This time, they’ve made a glamorous pivot from being a public chain, completely transforming their direction and product model—something most public chains can’t pull off. From the market’s perspective, it’s been a huge success. Even naval @naval, named after Bitcoin, is sharing content about Near.