Layer 01
Protocol
NEAR Protocol
Built by an AI team after paying global contributors exposed the limits of open networks.
The proposal
NEAR has spent years building one idea.
AI research led to a protocol. The protocol grew into Intents, Confidential, and AI. Those capabilities are now becoming near.com, IronClaw, and the products that follow.
How the story fits together
The story has
three layers.
Layer 02
Technology
Intents · Confidential · AI
Request an outcome, keep its data private, let software finish the job.
Layer 03
Products
near.com · IronClaw · the next chapter
Where the technology meets the people and agents using it.
AI researchled to →protocolenabled →technologybecame →products
Layer 01 · The foundation
The protocol came
out of the AI work.
2017
“We propose a new simple network architecture, the Transformer…”Attention Is All You Need · co-authored by Illia Polosukhin
NEAR began as an AI company.
In 2017, Illia Polosukhin, a co-author of the Transformer paper, and Alexander Skidanov founded NEAR.ai to teach machines to write code. Paying contributors around the world exposed the limits of the available blockchain infrastructure. They started building the network they wanted to use. That became NEAR Protocol.
Smart accounts
Human-readable accounts can hold multiple keys, each with its own permissions.
Sharding
Nightshade distributes the network’s work across shards so capacity can grow with demand.
Chain Signatures
MPC lets NEAR accounts and contracts sign transactions for accounts on other chains.
Fast finality
1.2-second finality keeps settlement inside the flow of a product.
Origin and protocol details summarized from NEAR’s official history, Access Keys, and the Chain Signatures overview.
Layer 02 · The capabilities
Infrastructure became
capability.
Three technologies let software understand a goal, protect its context, and complete the action.
01 / 03
NEAR Intents
Outcome-first transactions
A person or agent says what they want. Solvers compete to deliver it.
02 / 03
NEAR Confidential
Private execution
Orders and sensitive data can stay private while transactions still connect to public markets.
03 / 03
NEAR AI
Private intelligence
Models can work with sensitive data inside private compute that can prove where it ran.
Public descriptions: NEAR Intents, Confidential Intents, and NEAR AI.
Layer 03 · The products
The first products
are live.
near.com gives people a simpler way to act across chains. IronClaw gives agents a secure way to use tools and credentials.
For people
near.com
One account for holding and moving assets across many chains, with private execution available when it matters.
nearOne account · every chain
You send
1.00
ETH
You receive
2,480
USDC
Intent understoodBest route foundSettled
For agents
IronClaw
A secure environment where AI agents can use tools and credentials while secrets stay protected.
WASM sandboxIsolated credentialsPrivate inferenceApproved endpoints
IRONCLAW
Why NEAR can tell this story
NEAR built
all three parts.
The protocol, the technology, and the products come from connected teams working on the same set of problems.
01
Accounts for people and software
Scoped keys give users, applications, and agents the permissions they need.
02
Execution across chains
Intents and Chain Signatures connect a request to assets and actions across networks.
03
Private, verifiable intelligence
Confidential execution lets agents work with sensitive information and prove where the computation ran.
The pieces already meet inside products people and agents can use.
The narrative · 60 seconds
The story, told in 60 seconds.
NEAR began as an AI company.
In 2017, Illia Polosukhin, a co-author of the Transformer paper, and Alexander Skidanov founded NEAR.ai to teach machines to write code.
Paying contributors around the world exposed the limits of the available blockchain infrastructure. Illia and Alex started building the network they wanted to use.
That became NEAR Protocol: human-readable accounts with scoped keys, a sharded network, and signatures that reach across chains.
Then came Intents, Confidential, and NEAR AI. Together, they let people and software request an outcome, protect the information behind it, and complete the action.
near.com gives people one place to use assets across chains. IronClaw gives AI agents a secure way to work with tools and credentials.
The story that began with machines writing code now reaches software that can act for us.
The big picture is NEAR.
Useful language
A few lines to build around.
Creative direction
Show the story unfolding.
Begin with NEAR.ai. Follow the work from research to infrastructure to products.
Origin
The Transformer, NEAR.ai, and the payment problem establish the cause.
Protocol
Accounts, sharding, Chain Signatures, and fast finality.
Technology
Intents, Confidential, and AI appear one by one.
Products
near.com and IronClaw show the technology in use.
Open out
One agent completes one useful task, then the frame opens to everything this stack can support.
Look and feel
- Calm and confident
- Architecture shown clearly
- Darkness giving way to clarity
- Real products in the final act
Story beats
- Start with NEAR.ai and the payment problem
- Show each layer building on the last
- Make one future use case tangible
- End on “The big picture is NEAR”
The ask
Use this story
across the brand.
Agree the core story and the three layers.
Use it in the flagship brand film.
Structure near.org around the same three layers.
Show where each launch belongs in the story.
Use the same storyline in founder, partner, and investor presentations.
Make the next launch feel like the next chapter.