"Near Launches $20M AI Agent Fund, Sparking Web3 AI Boom"

Near Foundation Launches $20 Million Fund to Boost AI Agents

The Near Foundation has unveiled a $20 million fund to accelerate the growth of autonomous AI agents on its blockchain. This marks a significant step in converging artificial intelligence (AI) and decentralized technology. However, some remain skeptical about AI agents, with the sector’s market capitalization revealing a concerning trend.

Near Foundation to Advance AI Agents with $20 Million Fund

Only weeks after announcing the expansion of the Near Protocol AI agent ecosystem, the foundation committed to deploying a $20 million AI agent fund on-chain over the next few months. It would go toward supporting agent tokens that introduce novel AI-driven use cases. These include AI-powered gaming, market-making, and permissionless oracles.

Beyond financial incentives, Near’s AI Agent Fund will complement other initiatives, such as the Horizon AI accelerator and AI hackathons. This would encourage the next generation of developers to push the AI and Web3 integration boundaries.

Despite this news, Near Protocol’s powering token is down by over 3% since Friday’s session opened. BeInCrypto data shows NEAR was trading for $3.22 as of this writing.

Nevertheless, the announcement comes after AI agents made headlines in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2024. CoinGecko highlighted them among the dominant trends in the past year. In the same tone, OKX Ventures says the hype around AI agents could continue in Web3 in 2025.

“As AI agents reshape the DeFi landscape, developing robust security and governance frameworks becomes critical to harness their potential while safeguarding market integrity. Emphasis should be placed on developing robust cybersecurity defenses… to combat manipulation and ensure fairness,” OKX Ventures’ Partner Jeff Ren told BeInCrypto.

Traditional finance giants like Franklin Templeton have also weighed in. As BeInCrypto reported, the asset manager forecasted a fueling an increased investment in AI-related tokens. Additionally, Multicoin Capital has predicted the emergence of zero-employee companies and “alpha hunters.”

Beyond the crypto sector, AI agents are also making waves in the broader tech industry. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has projected that AI agents will become a multi-trillion-dollar industry. He said they would transform automation and