AI Network NEAR Proposes 1 Million Transactions Per Second for AI Agents Operations, with CEO Alex Shevchenko Believing Micropayments Could Replace Subscriptions
AI Agents and Micropayments: NEAR Protocol's Ambitious Scalability Strategy
Aurora co-founder Alex Shevchenko has shed light on NEAR Protocol's ambitious plans to scale its blockchain platform, aiming to reach 1 million transactions per second (TPS) by the end of 2025. This target represents a staggering 240 times the platform's current capacity, averaging 83 TPS with a recorded peak of 4,135 TPS.
NEAR Protocol's objective is to support the growing trend of AI agents, micropayments, and decentralized services with lightning-fast processing speeds and low fees. The strategy relies on infrastructure advancements, such as Nightshade 2.0 sharding, stateless validation, and zero-knowledge proof, to achieve this milestone. NEAR Protocol founder Bowen Wang has confirmed these initiatives.
Shevchenko emphasized the transformative impact of AI agents on the payments ecosystem. He suggested that subscription models would gradually fade out as AI agents favor low-cost micropayments. This transition, Shevchenko believes, could break away from traditional systems like VISA, MasterCard, and SWIFT, with blockchain offering a viable alternative—but only if it can scale.
NEAR Platform's work on blockchain scalability is accelerating, focusing on advanced sharding architecture. NEAR's target of processing 1 million TPS within 2025 is set to be tested in a dedicated network before further refinements. Nightshade 2.0, NEAR's dynamic sharding design, already allows shard expansion within a single block. Future efforts will focus on dynamic resharding, enabling shards to split and merge based on demand, thus addressing scaling challenges posed by growing AI agent and global user involvement.
Stateless validation plays a crucial role in NEAR's future scalability. This system allows validators to confirm transactions without downloading full data, reducing bandwidth usage and verification time. Upcoming upgrades will likely adopt zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs instead of merkle-based state witnesses, ensuring faster transaction confirmation while minimizing computational load. This enhancement promises more efficient interaction across chains and diverse use cases, particularly in the growing AI agent landscape.
Developers expect these changes to revolutionize blockchain validation, making NEAR more adaptable and future-proof. The platform also aims to establish seamless interaction between chains using Chain Signatures, connecting external blockchains and expanding the NEAR ecosystem without disrupting user experience due to existing layer-2 or multichain bridges.
NEAR Protocol's roadmap is aligned with AI agent integration, heralding a future where AI systems can learn, operate safely, and make decisions independently. The vision encompasses a decentralized AI-powered internet, free from central control, allowing AI agents to interact, pay, and perform tasks in real time. Reducing entry barriers for developers and users remains a core focus, with NEAR's BOS (Blockchain Operating System) supporting AI-native applications.
NEAR Protocol's commitment to decentralization without compromising speed or user experience positions it as a leader in blockchain scalability. Experts see the convergence of AI agents and blockchain as an inevitability. NEAR's strategy to scale using sharding and improved interoperability could attract developers, enterprises, and users seeking a responsive and affordable network. If successful, NEAR could redefine how blockchain infrastructure supports a machine-driven economy as AI agents continue to rise in prominence.
- NEAR Protocol's ambitious scalability strategy, aiming to achieve 1 million transactions per second (TPS) by 2025, is driven by the growing trend of AI agents, micropayments, and decentralized services, and it relies on cross-chain technology, such as Nightshade 2.0 sharding, stateless validation, and zero-knowledge proof.
- The transformative impact of AI agents on the payments ecosystem, favoring low-cost micropayments over subscription models, could break away from traditional systems like VISA, MasterCard, and SWIFT, with blockchain technology providing a viable alternative—especially if it can address scalability issues.
- NEAR Protocol's decentralized technology is not only focused on blockchain scalability but also on the seamless interaction between different blockchains, using Chain Signatures, to expand its ecosystem while maintaining a responsive and affordable network, ideally making it the infrastructure of choice for a machine-driven economy powered by AI agents.
