NEAR's Bold Vision For A User-Owned Internet

In the newest episode of The Edge Podcast, we explore NEAR Protocol's vision for a user-owned internet and how it’s pushing the boundaries for building for crypto x AI applications. NEAR Co-founder Illia Polosukhin shares insights into the protocol’s journey, the development of groundbreaking features like AI-driven governance including their early experimenting with an AI delegate, and its pioneering sharding technology. Tune in to learn how NEAR innovations could reshape the UX of decentralized applications and radically accelerate a future where user-owned AI improves all of our lives.

Special thanks to our sponsors who make it possible to create this FREE content:

☀️ SUMMER.FI | THE BEST PLACE TO BORROW AND EARN IN DEFI

♦️ REDSTONE ORACLES | THE FASTEST GROWING ORACLE FOR DEFI

🧙‍♂️ MERLIN CHAIN | THE RISE OF BITCOIN'S LARGEST LAYER 2

🔥 FBTC | YOUR GATEWAY TO BITCOIN EARNINGS

🐡 PUFFER FINANCE | A LEADING INNOVATOR IN LIQUID RESTAKING, BASED ROLLUPS, AND AVS'S

Listen to every episode of The Edge Podcast on Pods, Apple, Spotify, and more by subscribing to your preferred podcast player here!

Timestamps

0:00 - Intro

3:41 - Founding NEAR Protocol and NEAR AI

14:16 - How will we know NEAR’s been successful?

17:04 - How NEAR differentiates from other L1s?

22:46 - How NEAR’s architecture empowers dApps

27:50 - FBTC mid-roll

28:30 - How will the crypto UX be impacted by NEAR’s stack?

30:59 - NEAR’s transition to DAO governance model

33:13 - Illia’s vision for an AI CEO

36:02 - What is user-owned AI?

41:31 - Status of the NEAR AI team

43:22 - Puffer Finance mid-roll

44:07 - NEAR value accrual from AI efforts

45:21 - REDACTED conference

50:08 - Thoughts on regulation in the face of a user-owned Internet

54:23 - Closing

🔗 Guest Links 🔗

► NEAR Website: https://near.org/

► NEAR on X/Twitter: https://x.com/nearprotocol

► Illia on X/Twitter: https://x.com/ilblackdragon

• Follow @DeFi_Dad on X (Twitter)

• Follow @Nomaticcap on X (Twitter)

• Subscribe to The Edge Podcast via Linktree

• Watch The Edge Podcast on YouTube

• Collect every episode onchain on Pods