NEAR Protocol has launched a staking-based payment system for its AI platform, allowing users to access confidential AI models and autonomous agents by locking NEAR tokens instead of paying with a credit card. According to an announcement published by NEAR Protocol on X, the new feature converts staked NEAR into monthly compute credits that can be used across the platform's artificial intelligence services. The protocol said users can adjust the amount they stake based on their computing needs, while the underlying tokens remain locked rather than spent and become available again after unstaking. As reported by NEAR Protocol, the launch establishes availability but not yet demonstrated adoption, with the monthly-credit structure tying payment capacity to an active staking arrangement.
The rollout covers all 43 AI models currently available through NEAR AI, including models from Anthropic, OpenAI and Google. As reported by NEAR Protocol, the mechanism removes the need for a cloud billing account, stored payment credentials or a credit card to access those services. Users can increase their stake to obtain additional one-time credits, reduce it when usage declines or withdraw their tokens completely by unstaking. Every supported AI model on NEAR AI is available through the staking mechanism, allowing developers and users to switch between providers without changing how they pay for inference or agent hosting. The launch connects AI compute use with staking demand, creating a direct utility path for NEAR when confidential inference or always-on agents are used.
NEAR Protocol described the launch as one of the first production systems to let users pay for confidential AI inference and always-on agents through onchain staking. The protocol said the system supports confidential AI inference and always on agents through an onchain staking mechanism. According to NEAR Protocol, the feature brings together "the NEAR you hold and the AI you run, joined without a card in between." The company framed the design as part of its effort to let users keep control of their assets and credentials while interacting with AI services, with confidential inference and hosted agents running without requiring users to hand over payment information to third-party platforms.
Beyond user payments, NEAR Protocol said staking AI fees could influence the network's token economics because the locked assets remain out of circulation while supporting AI workloads. As reported by NEAR Protocol, a single AI subscription would have little effect on overall supply, but repeated usage across developers and applications could result in more tokens being committed to active computing instead of remaining freely tradable. The company argued that the same token supports two functions at once by helping secure the blockchain while simultaneously paying for AI computation. NEAR added that the value created through AI activity can return to participants securing the network instead of accumulating with centralized service providers.
NEAR Protocol's token has recorded four consecutive bullish sessions, with the latest rally supported by a governance proposal introducing a new long-term vision for the network's token economy. According to NEAR co-founder and NEAR Foundation CEO Illia Polosukhin, there are plans to establish a 30 million NEAR sovereign fund to finance validators and public goods while reducing inflation. At the token's current price of approximately $1.8, the proposed treasury would be worth approximately $57 million. The fund would combine existing protocol treasury, revenue already earned and future revenue selected through governance, rather than immediately spending or burning incoming assets. The proposal forms part of NEAR's broader tokenomics changes, including the network's recent reduction of inflation from about 5% to roughly 2.5% and the activation of an Intents fee switch in February 2026 that directs revenue toward NEAR purchases.
