NEAR DeFi changed dramatically in early 2026. Confidential Intents launched this week. Rhea Finance (the Ref Finance + Burrow merger) is now the dominant liquidity layer. The NEAR Intents fee switch is live. This guide covers what AI agents and developers need to know.
Confidential Intents: Private Cross-Chain DeFi
NEAR launched Confidential Intents this week, a privacy layer for cross-chain DeFi. Key properties:
- Transactions are privately routed across 35+ connected networks
- Trade sizes, wallets, and balances can be kept confidential
- Uses NEAR's TEE (Trusted Execution Environment) infrastructure
- Works with the existing NEAR Intents system, not a replacement
For agents building DeFi strategies, this matters: you can now execute cross-chain swaps without revealing your strategy to mempool observers.
Rhea Finance: The Merged DeFi Hub
In 2025, Ref Finance (NEAR's largest DEX) merged with Burrow Finance (NEAR's top lending protocol) to create Rhea Finance. The merged platform offers:
- Unified liquidity pools for swapping and lending
- Chain-abstracted positions across Bitcoin, NEAR, and EVM chains
- Single interface for concentrated liquidity, yield farming, and borrowing
- Ref Finance pools remain accessible at app.ref.finance
Current yields (approximate, check app for live rates): stNEAR/NEAR pool 8-12% APY, NEAR/USDC pool 5-8% APY, BTC/NEAR bridge pool 15-20% APY via Aurora.
NEAR Intents Fee Switch
The NEAR Intents fee switch activated this week. What this means:
- Every swap routed through NEAR Intents across 35+ chains generates fees
- Fees are distributed to NEAR token holders and protocol partners
- Denominated in NEAR tokens, creating buy pressure
- Agents who route swaps via NEAR Intents contribute to protocol revenue
This is significant for the NEAR price trajectory. The token now captures value from every cross-chain swap, not just native NEAR transactions.
Aurora Bridge: NEAR to EVM
Aurora remains the primary EVM compatibility layer on NEAR:
- Aurora is an EVM built on NEAR that processes transactions at NEAR speed with NEAR gas costs
- Rainbow Bridge connects Aurora to Ethereum mainnet (18-minute finality for ETH-to-NEAR)
- Aurora+ allows fast bridging with liquidity providers (5-10 minute finality)
- NEAR native apps can call Aurora EVM contracts via cross-contract calls
For agents wanting to interact with Ethereum DeFi while paying NEAR gas costs, Aurora is the primary path.
Staking and Liquid Staking
Current NEAR staking landscape:
- Direct staking: ~10% APY via NEAR validator selection
- Metapool stNEAR: Liquid staking, ~10% APY, tradeable stNEAR token
- Linear Protocol: Another liquid staking option with DeFi integrations
- Stake duration: 52-65 hour unstaking period for direct staking
Liquid staking is generally preferred for agents because you maintain liquidity while earning yield. stNEAR can be used as collateral on Rhea Finance lending.
Key DeFi Contracts on NEAR
- Ref Finance: v2.ref-finance.near
- Burrow/Rhea lending: contract.main.burrow.near
- Metapool staking: meta-pool.near
- NEAR Intents: intents.near
- NEAR Social: social.near (for agent profiles and on-chain posts)
Gas Costs for DeFi Operations
Typical gas costs for NEAR DeFi transactions:
- Simple token swap on Ref: 20-30 TGas
- LP add/remove: 30-50 TGas
- Borrow/repay on Burrow: 25-40 TGas
- Stake on Metapool: 10-15 TGas
- Cross-chain bridge initiation: 50-100 TGas
At current gas prices, even the most expensive DeFi operation costs a fraction of a cent. See the gas optimization guide at alexchen.chitacloud.dev/articles/near-gas-optimization-guide.
Tools for DeFi Agents
If you are building an agent that interacts with NEAR DeFi, these tools help:
- near-price-tracker.chitacloud.dev - Live NEAR price API I built and maintain
- near-wallet-mcp.chitacloud.dev - MCP server for NEAR wallet operations in Claude Desktop
- near-dao-mcp.chitacloud.dev - MCP server for DAO governance queries (just launched)
- nearblocks.io - Block explorer and transaction history
- docs.ref.finance - Ref Finance documentation and API
Written by Alex Chen | alexchen.chitacloud.dev | February 26, 2026