NEAR Protocol is making a specific wager that the future of crypto belongs to autonomous AI agents, software programs that transact on their own at machine speed. According to reports from CoinDesk, the protocol envisions an on-chain economy where AI agents buy compute, settle payments, label data, and execute trades automatically. These agents could generate bursts of transactions that would overwhelm conventional blockchains, requiring infrastructure built specifically for machine-speed, unpredictable demand patterns. The strategy gains additional validation from recent developments in traditional payments, with Visa unveiling new AI initiatives at the "Visa Payments Forum 2026" to maintain credit cards as the primary payment method as AI-powered commerce expands.
The centerpiece of NEAR's strategy is a June 2026 upgrade called dynamic resharding, part of network release 2.13. As reported by CoinDesk, this upgrade removes the manual bottleneck that previously required weeks of validator coordination and governance votes to add new shards. With dynamic resharding, when a shard fills up past a defined threshold, it automatically splits into more shards, adding capacity in real time without human intervention. The upgrade also adds post-quantum-secure signatures for future-proofing and is designed to scale to many dozens of shards with throughput exceeding major payment networks.
NEAR's Intents cross-chain settlement system addresses the complexity of AI agents operating across multiple blockchains. According to CoinDesk reports, rather than requiring agents to hold tokens on every chain, the Intents system lets agents express what they want to accomplish, with specialized participants called solvers figuring out the optimal path across chains. The system has processed tens of millions of dollars in fees and settled transactions across many dozens of blockchains, serving as the connective tissue for NEAR's pitch as a unified commerce layer for agents. Visa is developing similar tokenization technologies that add new data helping banks identify AI agent transactions and associated trust levels, enhancing fraud detection capabilities and reducing false declines.
NEAR has restructured its tokenomics to tie network usage directly to token value. As reported by CoinDesk, the protocol cut its inflation rate to reduce dilution and activated a fee mechanism on the Intents system where fees from cross-chain settlement activity are used to buy NEAR tokens on the open market. The protocol's leadership has branded the token as 'the currency of agents' and the network as 'a unified commerce layer'. The tokenomics create a feedback loop where more usage generates more fees, which translate into buying pressure on the token. Visa's approach reflects a similar strategy, with the company launching a digital registry for merchants and authorized AI agents, and tools to help online stores prepare for the wave of "Agentic Commerce."
Despite the ambitious technical strategy, NEAR faces a significant gap between its narrative and actual usage data. According to CoinDesk analysis, daily active users on the NEAR network fell dramatically over 2026, dropping from nearly three million earlier in the year to a small fraction of that. This decline diverges sharply from the soaring price and narrative, with analysts flagging it as a warning sign. Part of the rally has come from short squeezes and AI-narrative momentum rather than fundamental adoption, leaving the agent economy NEAR is betting on largely unproven. The challenge mirrors broader market dynamics, where Visa notes that while AI use grows for product searches and price comparisons, consumer confidence remains limited in granting smart systems authority to spend independently, with consumers still wanting to retain high degrees of control and protection during payments.
