NEAR Protocol Crypto Review: Not Really the Blockchain for AI

NEAR Protocol says it is “the blockchain for AI,” but in this review I break down why that marketing claim does not hold up for me. My main question is simple: what can the blockchain itself actually do for AI? From what I see, NEAR can help with transactions, token rails, account control, and coordination, but that is very different from actually running AI onchain. If a blockchain cannot run the real computation and still depends on third parties for the most important parts, then I do not think it deserves the “blockchain for AI” label. In this video, I explain why I believe NEAR’s AI narrative is mostly marketing, why that matters for long-term adoption, and why I see ICP as offering far more real onchain functionality by comparison. This is not financial advice. I do not hold any NEAR. I do hold ICP, and I share that openly in the video. If there is another crypto you want me to review next, tell me in the comments. Chapters: 00:00 NEAR says it is the blockchain for AI 00:32 What does the technology actually do? 00:57 Why NEAR does not look special to me 01:19 Why onchain AI matters 01:52 Why big AI companies still dominate offchain 02:19 NEAR’s actual utility: assets and transactions 03:03 Can NEAR really run AI onchain? 03:23 Why I compare NEAR to ICP 04:11 Signatures, permissions, and the fatal flaw 04:36 Why blockchain alone does not equal AI 05:09 NEAR as a coordination layer 05:30 Transactional plumbing vs real AI utility 06:16 Why the marketing does not match reality 06:51 The “house on the water” analogy 07:45 Why payment rails are not intelligence 08:13 Why third-party hosting breaks the value proposition 08:42 Chasing the next crypto narrative 09:18 Why developers would choose better tech 09:50 Retail investors and AI category manipulation 10:28 Crypto marketing vs technical reality 10:50 What NEAR advocates are not saying 11:34 My conclusion on NEAR and AI 11:55 My personal experience using NEAR 12:19 Comment the next coin to review #NEARProtocol #NEAR #CryptoReview #ICP #InternetComputer Contact Me and Book a Zoom Video Call https://jerrybanfield.com Subscribe for more Jerry Banfield! ICP Crypto https://www.youtube.com/@JerryBanfieldICP Crypto Reviews https://www.youtube.com/@JerryBanfieldCryptoReviews Daily Autobiography https://www.youtube.com/@JerryBanfieldDaily Coaching https://www.youtube.com/@JerryBanfieldCoach Gaming https://www.youtube.com/@JerryBanfieldGames Sincerely, Jerry Banfield