TL;DR
- NEAR Foundation announced a new $100 million VC fund to bring creators to NEAR
- Tether announced that USDT will be launching on NEAR
- Proximity announced full support for Fireblocks on NEAR
- Bittsa is now supporting USN-Fiat swaps on their platform
- Pulsar integrates NEAR network to its dashboard
NEARCON, Let's Get Started!

$100 Million VC Fund for Creators on NEAR
The NEAR Foundation announced a new $100 million VC fund to bring creators to NEAR, targeting Web3 Culture and Entertainment
The NEAR Foundation is collaborating with Caerus Ventures in the initiative, which will make seed round investments.
New projects on NEAR need fundraising platforms like Meta Yield to support business growth after seed investments. These new entries to the ecosystem bring lots of opportunities for partnerships, investment and expansion of the ecosystem.

Tether Launches USDT Stablecoin on NEAR
This is a major milestone for NEAR and expands Tether into 12 networks. This will create, by far, the most retail accessible link between the NEAR ecosystem and the estimated $67.7 billion USD circulating on Tether.
The integration of Tether into the Near blockchain is a major milestone in the firm’s commitment to increase its presence in decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystems.

Fireblocks on NEAR
Proximity has announced full support for Fireblocks on NEAR. Fireblocks is a digital asset custodial platform used to secure and manage assets.
Fireblocks is trusted by more than 1,300 banks, hedge funds, and financial institutions, and to date has ensured the safe transfer of more than $3 trillion.
The Fireblocks integration with NEAR will allow institutional users to now access the NEAR Protocol’s fast and low-cost sharded proof-of-stake blockchain safely and securely.
Fireblocks will be usable on any NEAR DeFi protocol in the upcoming weeks. In fact, it is currently being integrated by Meta Pool, enabling users of Fireblocks to stake their native NEAR and hold stNEAR.

Swap USN - Fiat on Bittsa Platform
Bittsa is now supporting USN – Fiat swaps on their platform. This is the first bridge from a native NEAR stablecoin to fiat currencies!

Pulsar Integrates NEAR Network
Pulsar is a multi-chain dashboard that gives crystal clarity to your holdings. Their team has now completed the technical integration of NEAR, and over the next few weeks will begin the process of a mainnet launch. Now you can see your stNEAR holdings side-by-side with any other assets you may have!

About Meta Pool & stNEAR
Meta Pool is the leading liquid staking solution for $NEAR and wNEAR token holders. With Meta Pool you earn NEAR staking rewards and maintain your liquidity to participate in DeFi protocols on NEAR and Aurora.
Users staking $NEAR and wNEAR with Meta Pool receive in exchange stNEAR (staked NEAR) tokens.
stNEAR simultaneously accrues staking rewards and unlocks users’ liquidity enabling them to participate in DeFi activities (e.g. lending, farming, borrowing) on NEAR and Aurora.
Stake $NEAR on Meta Pool
~11% APY
Get stNEAR
Yield-bearing token
Go DeFi on NEAR & Aurora
More APY and more rewards
Meta Pool also solves the problems associated with Proof-of-Stake networks staking: illiquidity, immovability and accessibility. Meta Pool also aims to distribute staking in multiple validators to improve censorship-resistance of the NEAR network.
With a TVL of ~9 Million $NEAR and growing, Meta Pool has become in just a few months a cornerstone element of the NEAR ecosystem. Meta Pool is making NEAR Protocol more decentralized and therefore more secure.
In February 2022 Meta Pool has been successfully audited by BlockSec, confirming the implementation of the highest security standards.
For more information visit https://metapool.app.