The previous core business of NEAR was selling block space—attracting projects to issue tokens and develop applications, and then supporting token value via Gas fees and staking. The problem is that there are too many competing L1 chains. No matter how high the performance is, it’s hard to establish real barriers.
Now NEAR is starting to pivot toward “multi-chain infrastructure.” It is no longer fixated on monopolizing users and capital on the NEAR chain. Instead, it helps different blockchains with account control, transaction matching, cross-chain settlement, and privacy execution. More importantly, product revenue has already begun to be used for buying back NEAR tokens, meaning business growth can finally translate into token value.
So the biggest change for NEAR isn’t its technical parameters, but its business model: in the past it competed with all other public chains for users, but now it’s trying to become the service provider behind all chains. Whether this path can work still needs to be watched, but at least it’s no longer living off the old playbook from the previous cycle.
Now NEAR is starting to pivot toward “multi-chain infrastructure.” It is no longer fixated on monopolizing users and capital on the NEAR chain. Instead, it helps different blockchains with account control, transaction matching, cross-chain settlement, and privacy execution. More importantly, product revenue has already begun to be used for buying back NEAR tokens, meaning business growth can finally translate into token value.
So the biggest change for NEAR isn’t its technical parameters, but its business model: in the past it competed with all other public chains for users, but now it’s trying to become the service provider behind all chains. Whether this path can work still needs to be watched, but at least it’s no longer living off the old playbook from the previous cycle.