NEAR Protocol has launched a staking-based payment system for its AI platform, allowing users to access confidential inference and autonomous AI agents by locking NEAR tokens instead of paying with a credit card.
According to an announcement published by NEAR Protocol on X, the new feature converts staked NEAR into monthly compute credits that can be used across the platform’s artificial intelligence services.
The protocol said users can adjust the amount they stake based on their computing needs, while the underlying tokens remain locked rather than spent and become available again after unstaking.
The rollout covers all 43 AI models currently available through NEAR AI, including models from Anthropic, OpenAI and Google. NEAR Protocol said the mechanism removes the need for a cloud billing account, stored payment credentials or a credit card to access those services.
The protocol described the launch as one of the first production systems to let users pay for confidential AI inference and always-on agents through onchain staking. In its announcement, NEAR said the feature brings together “the NEAR you hold and the AI you run, joined without a card in between.”
Under the new system, users stake NEAR before using AI services, with the amount locked determining how many monthly compute credits they receive. According to NEAR Protocol, larger staking positions generate more compute points, allowing users to scale usage without moving to a different payment model.
Unlike a traditional subscription where funds are spent each billing cycle, the protocol said the staked tokens themselves are not consumed while the service is being used. Users can increase their stake to obtain additional one-time credits, reduce it when usage declines or withdraw their tokens completely by unstaking.
NEAR Protocol said every supported AI model on NEAR AI is available through the staking mechanism, allowing developers and users to switch between providers without changing how they pay for inference or agent hosting.
Describing the design, the protocol said users can “stake the token and it converts into monthly compute credits that scale with the size of your stake,” while the capital “is not spent but staked, and it returns to your wallet when you unstake.”
The company also framed the feature as part of its effort to let users keep control of their assets and credentials while interacting with AI services. According to the announcement, confidential inference and hosted agents can run without requiring users to hand over payment information to third-party platforms.
Alongside the product launch, NEAR Protocol connected the payment model to its long-term view of an AI-driven onchain economy. The protocol argued that if software agents become primary participants in digital markets, the assets securing blockchain networks could also become the assets used to pay for machine-generated work.
According to NEAR Protocol, staking for AI turns the token into a recoverable payment instrument instead of a consumable expense. Rather than purchasing credits that disappear after use, users temporarily lock tokens while accessing computing resources and receive them back after the staking period ends.
The protocol wrote that “staking NEAR equates to AI usage, prepaid in a form you can recover,” adding that the payment process, staking and unstaking all remain onchain throughout the lifecycle.
NEAR also argued that the same token supports two functions at once by helping secure the blockchain while simultaneously paying for AI computation. The company presented that approach as part of what it calls the “agent economy,” where digital assets secure network infrastructure while also facilitating automated economic activity.
Beyond user payments, NEAR Protocol said staking AI fees could influence the network’s token economics because the locked assets remain out of circulation while supporting AI workloads.
According to the protocol, a single AI subscription would have little effect on overall supply, but repeated usage across developers and applications could result in more tokens being committed to active computing instead of remaining freely tradable.
The company said every AI inference request or autonomous agent paid through staking contributes to the same cycle by locking tokens against real network activity rather than speculative trading. NEAR added that the value created through that activity can return to participants securing the network instead of accumulating with centralized service providers.
The announcement stopped short of estimating how much supply could eventually become locked through AI payments and did not provide adoption forecasts.
The latest AI payment feature introduces another role for staking within the NEAR ecosystem by linking token deposits directly to AI computing instead of relying only on validator participation or investment products.
Closing its announcement, NEAR Protocol described the system as an example of “AI sovereignty,” where users can stake tokens, allow private AI agents to run without exposing credentials, and later recover the same tokens after unstaking.
The new payment model builds on earlier efforts by NEAR to expand staking beyond conventional validator rewards.
In February 2025, Nomura-backed Laser Digital introduced the Laser Digital NEAR Adoption Fund for institutional investors seeking long-term exposure to the blockchain’s native token. The fund uses TruStake, an institutional staking solution developed by TruFin, allowing participants to earn staking rewards while supporting network consensus.
At the time, Laser Digital Chief Executive Officer Jez Mohideen said the fund combined exposure to artificial intelligence and digital assets with staking income. The product was made available to eligible institutional and professional investors in selected jurisdictions outside the United States.
NEAR also changed its monetary policy later that year. On Oct. 30, 2025, the protocol activated a network upgrade reducing annual token inflation from about 5% to roughly 2.4%, cutting yearly token issuance by nearly 60 million NEAR. The update also lowered expected staking yields from around 9% to approximately 4.5%, assuming roughly half of the circulating supply remained staked.
