NEAR Protocol (NEAR) continues to cement its position as one of the most active blockchain ecosystems of 2025.
The Layer-1 network closed Q3 with a $3.3 billion market cap, marking a 24.3% jump quarter-over-quarter, while NEAR Intents processed $234.9 million in transaction volume, a milestone that underscores its growing dominance in cross-chain infrastructure.
For a network once seen as an underdog among Ethereum alternatives, NEAR’s quiet but steady expansion is now turning heads across DeFi, AI, and multi-chain development.
Cross-Chain Ambitions Take Center Stage
At the heart of NEAR’s growth lies its cross-chain transaction layer, NEAR Intents. The protocol allows users to perform seamless swaps and actions across different blockchains without directly bridging assets.
In Q3, the Intents framework processed nearly a quarter billion dollars in volume, showing accelerating demand for abstracted, multi-chain operations. This plays directly into NEAR’s mission to become “the blockchain for AI and chain abstraction.”
In plain terms: NEAR wants to make blockchains invisible. It’s building an architecture where users and developers no longer need to think about what chain they’re on, just what action they want to take.
That abstraction layer, backed by NEAR Intents, is fast becoming the network’s most strategic advantage.
Scalability Boost: NEAR Expands from 8 to 9 Shards
To meet growing demand, NEAR executed a key scalability milestone in Q3: expanding its sharding structure from 8 to 9 shards.
The move increased network throughput by 12.5%, boosting performance and ensuring that NEAR can handle higher transaction loads without compromising decentralization.
This continuous sharding evolution has been NEAR’s core scaling strategy since launch. Instead of relying on Layer-2 solutions or sidechains, NEAR scales horizontally, splitting network load into shards that operate in parallel.
By increasing the number of shards, NEAR is effectively expanding its transaction lanes, allowing for higher volume and faster execution across decentralized applications (dApps).
In Q3, @NEARProtocol continued to make strides in positioning itself as a go-to player for cross-chain swaps powered by NEAR Intents.
NEAR closed Q3 2025 with a $3.3B market cap, up 24.3% QoQ, and $234.9M in volume processed through NEAR Intents.
As NEAR advances its vision of… https://t.co/JW29rcgwyu pic.twitter.com/myiMK1PVXa
— Messari (@MessariCrypto) November 7, 2025
Ecosystem Expansion: From DeFi to AI Collaborations
Beyond raw throughput, NEAR’s Q3 was defined by new partnerships and ecosystem integrations that broadened its footprint across DeFi, identity, and AI.
Key collaborations included:
@privy_io – enabling private, secure identity layers for NEAR users.
@EverclearOrg – enhancing interoperability for multi-chain liquidity and asset movement.
@shelbyserves – expanding consumer-facing services built on NEAR.
@auroraisnear – reinforcing the connection between NEAR and its EVM-compatible layer for developers.
@iqwiki – integrating decentralized knowledge-sharing capabilities.
@PublicAI_ – pushing forward NEAR’s vision of user-owned, on-chain artificial intelligence.
Each partnership underscores NEAR’s pivot toward real-world utility, especially around user-owned AI and decentralized data systems. In 2025, where AI dominance and data privacy are global debates, NEAR’s model of on-chain AI agents aligns perfectly with the trend toward open, verifiable intelligence.
Technical Upgrades: Nearcore v2.7.0 and v2.8.0
On the protocol side, NEAR rolled out two major upgrades during Q3, Nearcore v2.7.0 and v2.8.0.
These releases focused on network optimization, validator improvements, and developer tooling, ensuring that the expanding sharded network runs smoothly.
While these updates may sound routine, they’re part of NEAR’s disciplined, consistent development cadence, one that has earned it a reputation for stability even amid crypto’s chaotic cycles.
With each Nearcore release, the protocol is refining the core mechanics behind fast finality, low gas fees, and seamless developer integration.
Market Metrics and Momentum
According to Messari, NEAR’s Q3 performance reflects not only technical progress but also strong market positioning.
- Market Cap: $3.3 billion (up 24.3% QoQ)
- Volume via NEAR Intents: $234.9 million processed
- Shards: 9 (up from 8, +12.5% throughput)
- Ecosystem Growth: 6 new strategic partnerships
These figures highlight a project quietly growing beneath the surface, avoiding the hype-driven cycles seen in other ecosystems while focusing on infrastructure that actually scales.
Becoming the Blockchain for AI and Abstraction
NEAR’s latest quarterly growth isn’t just about DeFi volume or market cap. It’s about positioning.
As Ethereum continues to focus on Layer-2 expansion, NEAR is charting a different course: becoming the blockchain for AI-driven applications and seamless cross-chain intent execution.
The integration of AI into blockchain logic, through projects like PublicAI, shows NEAR’s intent to bridge two of the decade’s defining technologies. In this model, users own their data, their identity, and even their AI agents, all anchored on-chain.
This concept of “user-owned AI” turns NEAR from just another blockchain into what many are calling a Web3 operating system.
Community sentiment remains bullish. Developers continue to praise NEAR’s SDKs and language-agnostic environment. Projects like Aurora are drawing more Solidity devs into NEAR’s orbit, while ecosystem grants and hackathons are sparking renewed interest in decentralized infrastructure.
Meanwhile, NEAR’s decision to stay active in cross-chain liquidity, rather than compete head-on in the Layer-1 isolation race, is paying off. The strategy brings in users from other ecosystems instead of trying to replace them.
As NEAR enters Q4, all signs point toward continued expansion. With new shards online, fresh partnerships in AI and DeFi, and consistent growth in cross-chain activity, the protocol is shaping up as one of 2025’s most strategically positioned Layer-1s.
In a year where AI integration and multi-chain interoperability have become the new frontiers, NEAR stands at the intersection of both, building the rails for the next phase of Web3 usability.
Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any services.
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