Starting September 17, NEAR Protocol implemented default privacy for perpetual futures trades. Deposits made through the platform's trading interfaces now pass through a confidential shard, masking the user's identity and the origin of funds. This feature utilizes Confidential Intents and a trusted execution environment bridge to decouple public accounts from specific trading activities.
While the confidentiality layer hides the source of capital, individual positions remain visible on the Hyperliquid order book. NEAR integrated the Hyperliquid engine on June 9, providing access to over 50 markets across more than 35 chains with leverage reaching 40x. Hyperliquid recorded approximately $240 billion in volume during the 30 days prior to mid-September.
The protocol uses NEAR Intents to facilitate automatic conversions to USDC for cross-chain deposits. Following the update, the price of the NEAR token increased by 21% to 45%, reaching a range of $3.21 to $3.45, while trading volume rose by roughly 120% over a 24-hour period.
The launch coincided with the total value locked in Confidential Intents exceeding $70 million, which triggered the initial snapshot for an incentive program. By making privacy a default setting rather than an optional feature, the protocol aims to increase the adoption of confidential trading tools beyond the privacy-focused user base.
