NEAR Protocol

NEAR

NearEditorial PickNewAI

NEAR Protocol is a high-performance layer-1 blockchain designed for mainstream usability and, increasingly, for artificial intelligence. It was co-founded by Illia Polosukhin, one of the co-authors of the original Transformer research paper that underpins modern AI — a background the project leans into as it positions itself as an 'AI-native' blockchain. Technically, NEAR uses a sharding design (Nightshade) to scale by splitting work across the network, and it is known for a user-friendly account model with human-readable names that lowers the barrier for newcomers. More recently, NEAR has focused on 'chain abstraction' and NEAR Intents — infrastructure that lets users and AI agents transact across many blockchains without dealing with the underlying complexity. The vision is a network where autonomous AI agents can hold accounts, move value and coordinate across Web2 and Web3. The NEAR token powers the network: it pays for transactions, secures the chain through staking, and is used in governance, with fee mechanisms that can route value back to the token. For newcomers, think of NEAR as a scalable, easy-to-use layer-1 betting heavily on becoming the home base for on-chain AI.

Hyperliquid

HYPE

HyperliquidEditorial PickNewInfrastructure

Hyperliquid is a high-performance layer-1 blockchain built specifically for trading, best known for running a fully on-chain perpetual-futures exchange that feels as fast as a centralized one. Most decentralized derivatives platforms struggle to match centralized exchanges on speed and order-book depth; Hyperliquid's custom chain was designed from the ground up to solve exactly that, with a true on-chain order book and rapid settlement. It also added a general-purpose EVM (HyperEVM), so other DeFi apps can build on top of the same fast infrastructure. Notably, the project launched without traditional venture-capital backing and distributed a large airdrop of its HYPE token to early users, which built strong community goodwill. HYPE is the network's native token, and a meaningful share of the exchange's trading fees is used to buy back HYPE, tying the token's value to real platform usage. Hyperliquid grew into one of the dominant venues for on-chain perpetuals and attracted significant attention, including a spot ETF from a major asset manager. For newcomers, think of Hyperliquid as a purpose-built trading blockchain whose token is fueled by the fees of its booming exchange.

Toshi

TOSHI

BaseNewMeme

Toshi is one of the original and most recognizable memecoins on Base, themed around a cat associated with Coinbase and its co-founder. Launched in Base's early days, it became an emblem of the chain's first wave of community tokens and has remained a cultural staple as the ecosystem grew. Like all memecoins, it has no formal utility or roadmap — its value comes from community, recognition and momentum rather than any product. Its early-mover status and strong branding on Base helped it build a durable following and solid liquidity compared with the countless memes that came and went. Because it is sentiment-driven, Toshi is highly volatile and should be treated as a speculative, culture-first asset. It is frequently grouped with Brett as one of Base's defining memecoins. For newcomers, Toshi is essentially a community-and-culture play tied closely to the identity of the Base ecosystem.