NEAR Protocol co-founder Illia Polosukhin has formally proposed the creation of a protocol sovereign fund to strengthen the network's long-term tokenomics and fund ecosystem public goods. The proposal, posted on the NEAR governance forum on August 3, 2026, outlines a treasury initially seeded with roughly 30 million NEAR tokens, valued at approximately $53–57 million at current prices.
Under the plan, current and future protocol revenue would be directed into the fund, which would hold NEAR tokens and generate yield. A portion of that yield would then pay for critical services such as the Validator Support Program, MPC (multiparty computation) providers, and other core infrastructure. In contrast to simply burning tokens for a temporary supply reduction, Polosukhin argued that converting revenue into productive, yield-bearing NEAR assets creates a “long-term-aligned approach” that can continue funding public goods even if inflation eventually ends.
The fund’s design draws inspiration from sovereign wealth funds like those in Norway and Singapore, as well as university endowments—preserving a capital base while using returns for recurring expenses. Governance would be exercised through the existing House of Stake delegation system, which already oversees treasury management, inflation, and fees on NEAR.
Polosukhin stressed that this is strictly a discussion proposal, not an approved mandate. He has invited validators, tokenholders, and other stakeholders to comment over the next two weeks before any formal governance steps are taken. If successful, the initiative could gradually reduce effective inflation and even move NEAR toward a fixed supply over time. The network had already cut its inflation rate from about 5% to roughly 2.5% in late 2025 and activated an Intents fee switch in February 2026 that directs revenue to NEAR purchases.
Early forum responses have raised questions about yield strategies—whether the treasury would rely on staking, lending, or other DeFi methods—and the associated risks, given NEAR’s decentralized finance markets’ capacity. No launch date, target yield, or final asset allocation has been determined. The price of NEAR rose 3.5% in the past 24 hours to around $1.76–1.80, though it remains down roughly 29% over the past year.
