- Chain Signatures now supports EdDSA, enabling seamless cross-chain signing for Solana, TON, Stellar, Sui, and Aptos.
- NEAR prepares for protocol upgrade 77 and enhances AI infrastructure with data control and faster execution.
NEAR Protocol has announced that Chain Signatures—the technology that enables cross-blockchain signing without bridges—now supports EdDSA. What does that mean? Users and developers can interact directly with networks like Solana, TON, Stellar, Sui, and Aptos with just a NEAR account, without having to worry about managing separate wallets or storing multiple private keys.
NEAR Adds EdDSA to Chain Signatures
While Chain Signatures previously only supported ECDSA, which is suitable for networks like Ethereum and Bitcoin, now the story is broader. With EdDSA, Ed25519-based networks can get in on the action. Solana and TON, for example, are known for their speed but have different signature systems.
Now, NEAR users can “disguise” themselves as native users on those networks and still use the same account. Just imagine being able to send transactions across five blockchains without having to switch applications—that’s what the latest version of Chain Signatures offers.
Pushing Boundaries With AI and Cross-Chain Vision
But NEAR’s story doesn’t stop there. On the other hand, they have also just released Nearcore version 2.6.0. This release is designed to prepare the network for the protocol upgrade 77 which is scheduled to air on May 8, 2025.
One of its new features, “OptimisticBlock,” is claimed to be able to reduce latency, speed up execution, and support the performance of AI-based applications. So, not only is it faster, but it is also more suitable for complex computing scenarios that require high efficiency.
Furthermore, NEAR’s approach to AI is also interesting. While other projects are busy making chatbots or smart features on the blockchain, NEAR focuses on data control. They want users to maintain control over their personal information when interacting with AI models.
This makes NEAR’s approach feel more humane, because not everyone is comfortable with their data floating freely on the network. This approach is also starting to be taken into account, especially when they appeared at BUIDL Asia 2025. There, NEAR emphasized its commitment to encouraging multi-chain collaboration and building a truly decentralized AI infrastructure.
Interestingly, CNF previously reported that at the end of April, Bitwise Asset Management had registered an ETF product focused on the NEAR Protocol in Delaware, United States. This step is a strong signal that institutional interest in NEAR is increasingly real. Not only the independent crypto community is interested, but also large financial players are starting to take notice.
So yes, it can be said that NEAR is not just a patch here and there. They are moving in many directions: improving network performance, cross-blockchain integration, ethical AI approaches, and at the same time attracting institutional interest through financial products such as ETFs.
If everything goes smoothly, we might see the NEAR ecosystem getting busier not only from the user side, but also from the side of large projects that want to ride on their infrastructure.
Meanwhile, as of press time, NEAR is trading at about $2.54, up 1.18% over the last 24 hours and driving its market cap to surpass the $3 billion mark.
