San Francisco, California – $NEARBY is launching Near.com, a new crypto wallet and consumer app that aims to make blockchain technology feel as easy as using a traditional financial app, while positioning itself at the intersection of crypto and artificial intelligence (AI).
Polosukhin previously co-authored the paper that introduced the transformer model, the architecture underlying modern AI systems such as ChatGPT and many other major language models, and has increasingly focused on how blockchain infrastructure can support the next wave of AI-driven applications.
“We are entering a world where AI becomes our interface for computers,” Polosukhin said during the presentation.
$NEARBY token is down almost 3% in the past 24 hours.
At its core, Near.com is designed to remove much of the friction that has long made crypto confusing for regular users. Instead of worrying about gas fees, private keys, or switching between different blockchains, users can manage their assets in one place.
“You don’t have to think about blockchains. You don’t have to think about gas and keys,” Polosukhin said. “You just use it as your main wallet.”
Near.com supports a range of digital assets, including bitcoin, stablecoins, NFTs and other tokens. The idea is to bring together activities that are typically spread across multiple wallets and networks into one streamlined interface.
Near.com super app (Margaux Nijkerk/ CoinDesk)
But $NEARBYThe company’s ambitions extend beyond just building a new wallet. The company is betting that the next big wave in crypto will come from convergence with AI.
As AI agents become increasingly capable, such as booking travel, managing emails or handling online purchases, they will increasingly need the ability to conduct transactions. That’s where crypto infrastructure comes into play. Blockchains can provide programmable payments, global transfers and automated settlements without relying on traditional intermediaries.
Polosukhin argued that as AI systems begin to interact with each other, they essentially become “economic actors”: software programs that negotiate, pay for, and coordinate tasks. In that world, crypto becomes the financial layer that allows these agents to operate.
Near.com is designed to serve as that layer, acting as both an easy-to-use wallet for humans and an economical backend for AI-driven operations.
An important part of the announcement is privacy. One of the long-standing trade-offs of blockchain is transparency: transactions are generally visible to everyone. While that openness can build trust, it can also expose sensitive financial information.
“Everything you do onchain is transparent,” Polosukhin said. “That is not realistic for normal use, for everyday use.”
To address this, $NEARBY introduced a “confidential mode” within Near.com. This feature allows balances, transfers and trading activities to remain private within the security framework of the network. The company says this makes the wallet more practical not only for individuals and businesses, but also for AI agents who may need to conduct transactions without revealing strategy or sensitive data.
The launch heralds a broader shift $NEARBY.
“We have the stack. We have all the components. We have the product,” Polosukhin said. “Now we’re shifting … to how we actually scale adoption – how we bring this to billions of people around the world.”
Read more: Most Influential: Sam Altman