Why Arthur Hayes Thinks NEAR Could Be A Major AI Crypto Play

[lingriiddd]

Arthur Hayes recently named NEAR Protocol as part of his “holy trinity” of altcoin positions alongside Hyperliquid and Zcash, but his latest post puts NEAR directly in the spotlight.

Hayes believes NEAR’s long-term opportunity comes from its push into AI-native blockchain infrastructure. In particular, he has pointed to NEAR’s “intents” architecture, which aims to simplify on-chain interactions and potentially generate recurring protocol revenue.

The broader thesis is becoming clearer:
As AI agents and autonomous applications grow, blockchains capable of handling scalable automated interactions may become increasingly valuable infrastructure layers.

NEAR has spent the last 18 months positioning itself around exactly that narrative, combining:
• High scalability
• Simplified user interactions
• AI compatibility
• Cross-chain functionality

For Hayes, the market may still be underpricing that positioning.

[tradelikepro]

if ai agents eventually generate meaningful onchain economic activity blockchains optimized for automation and low friction execution could become strategically important

[tradelikepro]

near’s investment thesis increasingly sounding less like meme speculation and more like automated machine economy infrastructure