NEARCON is the annual flagship conference hosted by the NEAR Foundation for the NEAR Protocol ecosystem. The event serves as a major gathering for founders, developers, researchers, investors, and community members to showcase the latest developments, facilitate collaboration, and set the future direction for the protocol. Over the years, the conference's focus has evolved from core Web3 infrastructure and community growth to the intersection of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Open Web. ^{[1] [2]}

Overview

NEARCON is the primary platform for the NEAR Foundation and its ecosystem projects to announce significant technological updates, present future roadmaps, and demonstrate new products and services built on the NEAR Protocol. The conference is designed to cater to a diverse audience, from highly technical developers to business leaders and investors, through a mix of main stage keynotes, technical workshops, panel discussions, and project showcases. The event's central themes have consistently mirrored the strategic priorities of the NEAR ecosystem, reflecting its progression and adaptation to broader technology trends. ^[1]

The format of the conference typically includes keynotes from NEAR co-founder Illia Polosukhin, technical deep dives, and discussions on topics ranging from decentralized finance (DeFi) and NFTs to decentralized governance. A significant component of NEARCON is often a large-scale hackathon, designed to encourage developers to build new applications on the platform. The conference also provides extensive networking opportunities through official parties, side events, and community-organized meetups. ^[2]

Thematic Evolution

The strategic focus of NEARCON has undergone a distinct evolution, highlighting the changing priorities of the NEAR ecosystem.

• Early 2020s (2022-2023): Initial conferences were primarily ecosystem-centric, focusing on blockchain technology, decentralization, and improving the developer and user experience. NEARCON 2022 emphasized community building and NEAR's core usability. By 2023, the central narrative shifted to "Chain Abstraction," a vision for making the underlying blockchain infrastructure invisible to the end-user, with NEAR serving as a seamless entry point to a multi-chain Web3. These events featured extensive discussions on developer tools like the Blockchain Operating System (BOS) and governance frameworks such as the NEAR Digital Collective (NDC). ^{[1] [2]}

• NEARCON 2026: The upcoming event marks a significant pivot to address the broader industry trend of Artificial Intelligence. Rebranded as an "AI Industry Conference," the 2026 edition aims to attract leaders from both the traditional tech (Web2) and blockchain (Web3) sectors. The focus is on NEAR's role in building an "infrastructure of intelligence" where AI is private, transparent, and owned by users, in alignment with NEAR's development of "NEAR AI" and its core mission of making blockchain technology accessible to a wider audience. ^{[1] [3]}

Chronology of Events

NEARCON is held annually, with each iteration taking place in a different international city, reflecting the global nature of the NEAR community.

NEARCON 2026

NEARCON 2026 is scheduled to take place from February 23–24, 2026, at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco, California. The event was officially announced on November 26, 2025. This edition represents a strategic rebranding of the conference as "The Premier AI Industry Conference." ^{[1] [4] [2]}

Theme and Vision

The central theme for 2026 is "User-owned AI," encapsulated by the slogan "Private. Intelligent. Yours." The conference aimes to address the future of AI, contrasting an open, autonomous, and user-owned model with a closed, centralized, and opaque alternative. Organizers have positioned the event as a "declaration that the next era of AI will be user-owned," focusing on the convergence of cryptographic research, financial infrastructure, and AI computing. It seeks to explore how principles of privacy, interoperability, and decentralized compute can serve as the foundation for a new AI economy and an "Age of Agentic Commerce," where intelligent systems are combined with cryptographic trust. ^{[3] [1]}

The choice of San Francisco was described as a deliberate decision, citing the city's history as a "frontier" for innovation and its current status as the "epicenter of AI innovation." The announcement framed the location as aligning with NEAR's ethos of building open, decentralized networks. ^[3]

Agenda and Participation

The two-day event is planned as a curated gathering with a focus on high-quality discussions and demonstrations. The agenda includes:

• Visionary keynotes from leaders in AI, cryptography, and finance.
• Live demonstrations of agent-based systems, confidential computing, and cross-chain intent execution.
• Technical sessions on private inference, verifiable AI, and primitives for "agentic commerce."
• Debates on AI regulation, adoption, ethics, and monetization.
• A dedicated "Product-Market Fit Lounge" for founders and builders.

Confirmed speakers include NEAR Protocol Co-Founder Illia Polosukhin, OpenAI researcher Lukasz Kaiser, and Oracle's Group Vice President of AI Agents, Kaushal Kurapati. ^[1]

In a departure from previous years, attendance for NEARCON 2026 is invite-only and requires an application. This curated model is intended to create a focused environment for founders, researchers, and builders. Application portals are also available for prospective speakers, sponsors, and media. ^{[4] [1]}

NEARCON 2023

NEARCON 2023 took place from November 7-10 in Lisbon, Portugal. The event centered on the theme of "Chain Abstraction" and showcased an ecosystem focused on Web3 development, decentralization, and multi-chain interoperability. Unlike the 2026 model, tickets for the 2023 event were available for general purchase and the conference was accompanied by a large-scale hackathon. ^{[1] [5] [2]}

Key Topics and Announcements

The final day of the conference, held at the LX Factory in Lisbon, particularly focused on governance and NEAR's role in a multi-chain future.

• Governance: Sessions included the NEAR Governance Forum, which discussed the future of the NEAR Digital Collective (NDC), a framework for decentralized governance. A panel titled "What 2024 Looks Like for Decentralized Democracy" featured speakers Blaze (Cheddar), Alejandro Betancourt (Transparency Commission), and Yadira Blocker (NEAR Foundation) discussing operational shifts for effective governance and the potential role of AI in decision-making. ^[5]
• Multi-Chain Integration: Major partnerships were announced to enhance NEAR's interoperability.
  • Eigen Labs: The NEAR Foundation announced a partnership with Eigen Labs to build a "fast finality layer" for Ethereum rollups using EigenLayer. The collaboration aimed to enable faster and more economical transactions and was planned for a testnet release in 2024.
  • LayerZero: LayerZero Labs integrated its endpoint with Aurora, NEAR's EVM-compatible layer, to facilitate trustless cross-chain messaging between the NEAR ecosystem and over 40 other blockchains.
• Notable Sessions: NEAR co-founder Illia Polosukhin and Polygon co-founder Jordi Baylina held a discussion on the collaboration between their respective ecosystems, particularly around zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs and the unification of Layer 1 and Layer 2 operations. ^[5]

Ecosystem Project Updates

Several projects building on NEAR made announcements on the final day, including:

• Activelink: Received a grant to facilitate on-chain transactions for sports and media fan engagement.
• Ample: Announced the launch of its content tokenization platform for artists.
• Encode: Partnered with NEAR Horizon to launch an eight-week online accelerator for early-stage projects.
• QSTN: Announced a sell-out of its NFT collection and an upcoming public incentivized testnet.
• World of Rogues: Rogues Studio announced the upcoming release of its mobile game on iOS and Android.
• Lava Network: Partnered with NEAR to provide developers with modular APIs and incentivized public RPCs.
• Encore Network: Announced its data collection platform would give NEAR users control over their personal data.

The conference concluded with a closing party sponsored by The Littles, which featured carnival games where attendees could win rewards and NFTs using The Littles Fun Pass app on NEAR. ^[5]

NEARCON 2022 (Beta)

The first large-scale edition of the conference, often called NEARCON Beta, was held from September 11-14, 2022, also in Lisbon, Portugal. This event focused on celebrating the growth of the NEAR ecosystem and empowering its community of builders. Key themes included NEAR's scalability, developer-friendly tools, and its long-term vision for an Open Web. It established the precedent for NEARCON as a recurring, international gathering for the ecosystem. ^{[1] [2]}

Key Figures

Illia Polosukhin, as the co-founder of NEAR Protocol, is a central figure at every NEARCON. He consistently delivers the main keynote addresses, in which he outlines the strategic vision and major announcements for the NEAR ecosystem. Polosukhin has been instrumental in guiding the conference's thematic focus, including driving the pivot towards user-owned AI for the 2026 event. ^{[1] [5]}

Notable Quotes

• On the 2026 mission: "NEARCON is where intelligence, privacy, and the open web converge. An invite-only gathering shaping an AI economy built on trust, transparency, and user ownership." ^[1]
• On the future of AI: "The future of AI cannot be controlled by closed platforms or fragile monopolies. It must be open, decentralized, and owned by everyone." ^[3]
• On the 2026 vision: "We are placing NEARCON at the heart of the global AI renaissance and declaring that the next technological revolution should belong to everyone, not just the platforms that operate it." ^[3]