NEAR Protocol's co-founder Illia Polosukhin just unveiled a proposal that flips how the network handles its wealth. Instead of burning tokens for quick supply cuts, he wants to seed a 30 million NEAR sovereign fund worth roughly $57 million at current prices. The idea is simple enough: hold capital, let it generate returns, and use those returns to pay for validators, network security providers, and public goods through governance votes.
The fund combines existing protocol treasury assets with current and future revenue. Rather than spending or burning everything immediately, NEAR would accumulate tokens and deploy them strategically. Polosukhin drew parallels to how Norway's sovereign wealth fund and university endowments work, though with one key difference: those entities measure returns in fiat or diverse assets. NEAR's fund would hold only its native token and measure everything in NEAR.
A Shift in Token Economics
This move sits inside a broader tokenomics overhaul. The network already cut inflation from roughly 5% to 2.5% in late 2025. Then in February 2026, it activated an Intents fee switch that directs protocol revenue toward NEAR purchases rather than just burning them. The sovereign fund proposal extends that logic: instead of temporary supply reductions, build a permanent engine that funds the ecosystem's operational costs.
Governance would define exactly how the fund's yield gets deployed. House of Stake delegates can participate through existing mechanisms, though no formal vote is scheduled yet. Polosukhin framed the proposal as a discussion starter on the NEAR Governance Forum, not a done deal. Community members have roughly two weeks to comment before supporters consider pushing for formal governance steps or ironing out implementation details.
This article is informational only and does not constitute financial advice or investment guidance.
