Bitwise CIO and Sovereign CEO say NEAR is entering next phase of value accrual

NEAR is entering a new phase in which growing usage across Intents and AI products could translate more directly into value for the token, according to Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan and Sovereign CEO Sal Ternullo. Speaking on The Rollup podcast, Ternullo said NEAR is moving toward having multiple product verticals with product market fit built around a single token economy. Intents is already generating revenue and supporting buybacks, while the AI side could become another source of value accrual once it reaches sufficient scale. “Once we hit the fee switch, hit a scale that makes sense and hit the fee switch on the AI side of this, we probably see the next repricing event in NEAR,” Ternullo said. Hougan said NEAR’s existing economics are giving traditional investors a way to value the asset without relying solely on its longer term AI ambitions. He said revenue and usage from Intents, alongside NEAR’s crosschain capabilities, provide evidence of existing product market fit. The network’s AI strategy can then be viewed as additional upside. “You can invest in NEAR exclusively on that basis and justify the valuation,” Hougan said, adding that investors effectively ge...