NEAR Protocol Stakes Its Future on AI Infrastructure

NEAR Protocol has introduced two new staking models designed specifically for AI infrastructure, aiming to deepen user engagement and make its network more useful for AI-driven applications. The first model, IronClaw staking, converts user commitments into hosting credits, giving stakers access to computing resources rather than a purely financial return.

The second model, NEAR AI staking, works similarly but with a different output: confidential inference capacity. Commitments made through this option are transformed into capacity for running AI inference tasks privately.

The underlying goal behind both models is to give participants a tangible stake in the AI systems built on top of its blockchain, rather than a purely speculative token position.