$NEAR Shifts Toward Settlement and #AIAgent s NEAR is moving past the “fast L1” story. Attention is now on cross-chain settlement and AI agent infrastructure. Bitwise launched the first U.S. spot NEAR ETF (NRR) on NYSE Arca on September 29. First-week net inflows were around $58 million. A regulated product gives traditional investors an easier on-ramp. NEAR Intents has handled roughly 31-33 billion in cumulative volume across 30+ chains, with a record ~4.8 billion in September. Fees from that activity fund NEAR buybacks through the fee switch that started in February. The layer is also being used as settlement for AI agents. NEAR ran from about 2.3 to 5.9 in a month, up roughly 140–150%, with recent volume near 1 billion. I’m watching whether it holds above 4.50–5.00. Dips into the mid-$4s look more interesting than chasing the latest push. If you’re trading the move, Bitget has a NEAR Trading Club Championship running: https://www.bitget.com/campaigns/b1ffd1c5cac34e18b275e4bba46a61af