NEAR Protocol sees surge in AI-driven staking activity

NEAR Protocol has reached a milestone with over 1 million NEAR tokens staked through its NEAR AI service. This mechanism allows users to retain ownership of their staked tokens while using the generated staking rewards to fund AI inference and computing credits.

The service supports 43 models from providers including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. Computing budgets for users are determined by the amount staked, the current price of NEAR, and the staking annual percentage yield (APY). Unused inference credits carry forward, while unstaking the tokens halts the accrual of new credits.

In addition to the staking milestone, NEAR reported significant growth in its Intents activity. According to Bitwise, monthly volume rose from $2.40 billion in July to $4.80 billion in September, contributing to a total quarterly volume of $10.41 billion. The token also recently experienced a price increase of over 11%, climbing above the $5 mark.