Halifa

How NEAR Intents are Solving Crypto's Biggest Problems | Free the Money Ep. 36 Alex Shevchenko is the Co-founder and CEO of Aurora Labs and Defuse Labs, the team behind @near_intents, the universal liquidity protocol for on-chain markets and tokenized assets. With a PhD in Applied Physics, @AlexAuroraDev has been building blockchain infrastructure since 2015 and helped launch Rainbow Bridge, Aurora, and NEAR Intents. Today, NEAR Intents’ infrastructure handles the majority of cross-chain trading volume outside same-asset transfers. •Why blockchain fragmentation is crypto's biggest obstacle to mainstream adoption •How NEAR Intents creates a universal liquidity layer across blockchains •What a fully agentic economy actually looks like and why AI agents will need their own financial infrastructure •Why open AI models are catching up to Big Tech and why personal AI could become the future •Why nearly $16 trillion in real-world assets (RWAs) could be tokenized by 2030 and why interoperability will be critical •How NEAR's ~$79 million in daily volume generates an average of ~$158,000 in daily $NEAR buybacks •Near's Confidential Intents: private cross-chain trading using a private shard and trusted execution environments (TEEs) •Why the CLARITY Act could accelerate institutional adoption and bring new capital into crypto •Why $470 billion worth of Bitcoin is exposed to quantum attacks and how @NEARProtocol is preparing with post-quantum cryptography Remember to subscribe and hit the bell "🔔" icon to get notifications. Check out my favorite privacy coin, Zano and follow @zano_project for updates. You can buy Zano seamlessly on MEXC using a VPN, or browse the full list of exchanges where Zano is available here: zanolist.com/exchanges You can also find educational content, tutorials, and interviews on the official Zano YouTube Channel: youtube.com/@zanoproject 0:00 Alex's Journey from Applied Physics 2:25 The Origin Story Behind NEAR Intents & Cross-Chain Infrastructure 4:14 Blockchain Fragmentation: Liquidity, Markets & Why Crypto Still Feels Broken 8:59 How NEAR Intents Work Under the Hood (Chain Signatures, Settlement & Self-Custody) 12:52 Building the Financial Backbone of the Agentic Economy (MPP, AI & NEAR's Vision) 16:58 When Will the Agentic Economy Arrive? Alex's Prediction 18:16 Distillation & Open vs Closed AI Models 24:32 NEAR AI: Private Inference & Running AI Without Giving Up Your Data 25:31 $80M Daily Volume, $NEAR Buybacks & Tokenomics 29:41 Why RWAs Need NEAR Intents 33:37 The Agentic Economy Explained: Cross-Agent Interactions 37:17 AI Will Disrupt Subscription Models: The Case for Agentic Micropayments 40:00 Why Privacy Matters: Zano 42:02 Confidential Intents Explained 47:53 Why the CLARITY Act Could Unlock Institutional Capital for Crypto 51:29 Quantum Computing Threats & How NEAR Is Preparing with Post-Quantum Cryptography @NEARProtocol @near_ai @NEARMobile_app