Users Can Now Swap Cardano Across 20+ Chains, Hoskinson Reacts

The NEAR Protocol has announced the integration of Cardano on the NEAR Intents platform, offering ADA holders more cross-chain functionalities.

The NEAR Protocol disclosed this in a tweet on September 30, confirming earlier speculations. Notably, Cardano becomes the latest major cryptocurrency added to the expanding Intents system, providing users with a new platform for seamless swaps across multiple blockchains.

Notably, the possibility of the ADA collaboration first surfaced in July when a NEAR community figure, Vini Barbosa, uncovered an early-stage Cardano integration on PikesPeak. The NEAR developers were testing out the ADA smart contract “cardano.omft.near” at the time, with yesterday’s announcement confirming this.

What NEAR Intents Integration Means for ADA Holders

Remarkably, the integration now provides ADA holders with a range of options for their cross-chain transactions, thereby enhancing the Cardano ecosystem’s appeal. This means that ADA is now in more markets, also allowing users to explore new options for multi-chain swaps.

The NEAR Intents platform has over 20 chains and 100 assets on its protocol. The most popular of them include Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, USDT, and Solana. Cardano’s integration now makes swapping ADA for these assets seamless and bridgeless.

Cardano Founder Glad to Work With NEAR

Meanwhile, the Cardano and NEAR communities cheered the announcement. They expressed their excitement about the collaboration, tipped to be bullish for both parties.

Specifically, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson also showed enthusiasm over the development. He took to X to share that he is glad to be working with the NEAR Protocol team, insisting that they are “great.”

Hoskinson also suggested that the NEAR Intents are the future of crypto. Meanwhile, he did not provide further context for this.

The founder has been public about his support for Cardano despite widespread criticism from a faction of the community. He recently applauded the new partnership between privacy-focused Cardano sidechain Midnight and Google Cloud.