NEAR Protocol launches staking-based payments for AI services

The new mechanism converts staked NEAR into monthly compute credits, allowing users to scale their AI usage based on the size of their locked position. Unlike standard cloud services that require stored payment credentials, this onchain approach ensures that tokens are not consumed during the billing process. Users retain full ownership of their assets, which become available for withdrawal once they choose to unstake. The platform supports diverse models from providers including OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic.

By tying AI consumption to token staking, NEAR Protocol aims to integrate machine-generated work into its broader economic infrastructure. The protocol frames this as an "agent economy," where the same assets used to secure the blockchain network simultaneously facilitate automated services. Because tokens are locked rather than spent, the model removes the need for third-party billing accounts, providing a layer of privacy for users deploying private agents or confidential inference tasks. This initiative complements previous efforts to enhance token utility, such as the 2025 network upgrade that reduced annual inflation and the launch of institutional staking funds.