San Francisco, CA - NEAR is launching Near.com, a new crypto wallet and consumer app that aims to make blockchain technology feel as simple as using a traditional finance app, while positioning itself at the intersection of crypto and artificial intelligence (AI).

Polosukhin previously co-authored the paper that introduced the transformer model, the architecture underpinning modern AI systems like ChatGPT and many other large language models, and has increasingly focused on how blockchain infrastructure can support the next wave of AI-driven applications.

“We are entering the world where AI is becoming our interface to compute,” Polosukhin said during the presentation.

NEAR token is down nearly 3% over the last 24 hours.

At its core, Near.com is designed to remove much of the friction that has long made crypto confusing for everyday users. Instead of worrying about gas fees, private keys or switching between different blockchains, users can manage their assets in one place.

“You don’t need to think about blockchains. You don’t need to think about gas, keys,” Polosukhin said. “You just use it as your main wallet.”

Near.com supports a range of digital assets, including bitcoin, stablecoins, NFTs and other tokens. The idea is to bring together activity that is typically spread across multiple wallets and networks into a single, streamlined interface.

But NEAR’s ambitions extend beyond building just another wallet. The company is betting that the next big wave in crypto will come from its convergence with AI.

As AI agents become more capable, like booking travel, managing emails or handling online purchases, they will increasingly need the ability to transact. That’s where crypto infrastructure comes in. Blockchains can provide programmable payments, global transfers and automated settlement without relying on traditional intermediaries.

Polosukhin argued that as AI systems begin interacting with each other, they effectively become “economic actors,” software programs that negotiate, pay and coordinate tasks. In that world, crypto becomes the financial layer that allows these agents to operate.

Near.com is designed to serve as that layer, acting as both a user-friendly wallet for people and an economic backend for AI-driven activity.

A key part of the announcement is privacy. One of blockchain’s longstanding tradeoffs is transparency: transactions are typically visible to anyone. While that openness can build trust, it can also expose sensitive financial information.

“Everything you do onchain is transparent,” Polosukhin said. “That’s not realistic for usual use cases, for day-to-day usage.”

To address this, NEAR introduced a “confidential mode” within Near.com. The feature allows balances, transfers and trading activity to remain private within the network’s security framework. The company says this makes the wallet more practical not only for individuals and businesses, but also for AI agents that may need to transact without revealing strategy or sensitive data.

The launch signals a broader shift for NEAR.

“We have the stack. We have all the components. We have the product,” Polosukhin said. “Now we’re switching … to how we actually scale adoption — how we bring this to billions of people around the world.”

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