The Near Foundation Announces a $20M Fund to Boost the Development of AI Agents on the NEAR Network

This capital will be deployed on-chain over the coming months and will be invested in tokens that enable novel applications in areas such as AI-powered gaming, market automation, and permissionless oracles.

The Near Foundation has announced a $20 million fund to support the development of AI agents on the NEAR network.

The capital will be deployed on-chain over the coming months and will be invested in tokens that enable novel applications in areas such as AI-powered gaming, market automation, and permissionless oracles.

This measure aims to leverage the protocol’s infrastructure to deploy solutions that revolutionize automation in commercial and financial processes.

The fund will be supported by other ecosystem initiatives, including the Horizon AI accelerator and various hackathons, which are expected to facilitate the entry of new developers and innovative projects.

The investment strategy focuses on exploring applications that extend beyond basic social interaction functionalities, opening the door to proposals that integrate agent tokenization, algorithmic order curation, and the development of on-chain AI characters.

This initiative offers both investors and creators a unique opportunity to generate disruptive solutions that enhance efficiency and transparency in the digital ecosystem.

The market has reacted positively to the announcement. Following the news, the price of the NEAR token rose by 2.72%, reaching approximately $3.38 per token, which indicates strong investor support for projects delving into the AI domain—a sector that could evolve into one of the most lucrative markets in history.

Technology leaders, including executives from Nvidia and OpenAI, have acknowledged the transformative potential of AI agents. These experts project that the integration of AI with blockchain will generate new business models and investment opportunities, driving automation across multiple sectors.

The NEAR Foundation aims to establish these agents as essential components for digital commerce and financial services, fostering a more automated and efficient economy.