Oct 4, 2026
Coins
'We Have Identified You, Sir': Near Intents Recovers $3.8 Million After 48-Hour Ultimatum
Near Intents got its money back. The cross-chain swap service said Friday that the roughly $3.8 million drained in an exploit on Thursday has been returned in full. The return came a day after the team publicly told the attacker it knew who they were. Myriad: Where does Ethereum go next? Click to make your prediction. "The funds from the $3.8M NEAR Intents hack were sent back in full," Alex Shevchenko, general manager of Near Intents, wrote on X. "We are stopping the investigation." The turnarou...
Oct 1, 2026
Coins
Near Intents Hacked for $3.8M Days After Denying North Korea-Linked Bitget Hacker
Near Intents, a tool for swapping crypto across different blockchains, stopped service on Thursday after an attacker drained about $3.8 million from it. The team says a bug in how its Omni deposit and withdrawal layer talks to the main smart contract—the self-running code that holds user funds—opened the door. “Earlier today NEAR Intents services were stopped after a security incident was detected. The incident was caused by a bug in the Omni deposit and withdrawal infrastructure interaction wit...
Sep 29, 2026
Business
Bitwise Launches First US Spot Near ETF After Token Nearly Triples Since August
Bitwise began trading its Near ETF on Tuesday, giving U.S. investors a way to bet on the AI-focused Near blockchain from an ordinary brokerage account. The fund trades on NYSE Arca under the ticker NRR and charges a 0.75% annual fee, according to Bitwise. Bitwise calls it the first spot Near fund in the U.S. "Spot" means the fund holds actual Near tokens rather than futures contracts, which are bets on where the price goes next. Myriad: Where does Ethereum go next? Click to make your prediction....
Mar 17, 2026
Markets
AI, Privacy Coins Lead Altcoin Rally as Bitcoin Tops $75K
Altcoins in the artificial intelligence and privacy sectors recorded significant gains following Bitcoin's extended recovery rally on Monday, triggering a broader risk-on rotation across crypto markets. Zcash surged 17.9% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data, while Midnight and Monero, posted gains of 4.1% and 3.3% on the day respectively. Meanwhile, AI coins including Virtuals Protocol and Near Protocol both ticked up by 3.8% over the past 24 hours. The rally follows Bitcoin's cl...
May 22, 2024
Business
Near Protocol Launches User-Owned AI Research Lab and Incubator
NEAR Protocol, a leading consumer blockchain focused on decentralized cloud computing, announced today the launch of NEAR AI, a new research and development lab focused on decentralized artificial intelligence (AI). The lab will be led by Illia Polosukhin, a co-founder of NEAR Protocol and co-creator of the influential Transformers AI architecture. Additionally, the NEAR Foundation unveiled an AI-focused incubator and investment wing aimed at funding and supporting AI projects built on the NEAR...
Jun 13, 2023
NFTs
Guy Fieri and Sammy Hagar's Tequila Brand Launches NFT Loyalty Program
Santo Spirits, the tequila company co-founded by Grammy award-winning musician Sammy Hagar and famed television chef Guy Fieri, is the latest brand to jump into Web3 to create a customer loyalty program built around NFTs. The Santo Spirits Club—which is built on Near Protocol—launches today with fans awarded a mystery NFT upon signing up. The first 1,000 customers will also receive a second mystery NFT for being among the first to join. The NFT’s utility will be revealed upon the launch of Santo...
Oct 24, 2022
Business
Near Project to Wind Down Its Terra-Like Stablecoin
A stablecoin project on the Near blockchain is being shut down after it began to exhibit risky characteristics similar to those observed with TerraUSD, a cryptocurrency that spectacularly failed this year and lost investors billions of dollars. Ethereum competitor Near is a popular blockchain for building decentralized apps (dapps) and minting NFTs. Since April, it has had its own stablecoin, USN, which was issued by the DAO Decentral Bank. But USN recently became undercollateralized, accordin...
Aug 5, 2022
Technology
Near Protocol Discloses Wallet Breach That May Have Exposed Private Keys
Blockchain network Near Protocol has disclosed a security breach that was discovered in June, which could have resulted in a third-party service gaining access to the seed phrases for user wallets. Near shared a blog post on Thursday about the breach, which was reported to the team on June 6 by security firm Hacxyk. At the time, the platform let users set an email address or phone number as a recovery option for a Near Wallet, enabling them to regain access to a wallet via email or SMS. However,...