Amid the current wave of AI narratives sweeping the crypto industry, most projects are competing on “how intelligent” their AI strategies are, but very few answer first the most fundamental question: where is the security baseline for on-chain AI automation? This is also the core reason I’ve been paying attention to Newton Protocol—it doesn’t start by piling up flashy concepts. Instead, it first builds a dedicated security Rollup foundation for AI-driven on-chain strategies.

Users familiar with on-chain automation tools have likely had similar concerns: if we hand wallet permissions to an AI agent, what if assets get stolen or unauthorized actions occur? For centralized automation platforms, what if they secretly move users’ assets? Since the strategy execution process is like a black box, if something goes wrong, how can we trace it? Newton Protocol’s answer addresses these security pain points at the underlying architecture: it uses a Keystore Rollup for layered key management, together with a zkPermissions programmable permission system, allowing users to precisely define the operational boundaries for AI agents—e.g., only permitting transactions of a specified amount within a specific protocol. Permissions remain fully controllable and can be revoked at any time, and ultimate control of assets stays firmly in the hands of the user.

Meanwhile, the execution process of all AI strategies will be verified on-chain through zero-knowledge proofs and trusted execution environments. Every step is traceable and verifiable, and at the technical level, the possibility of black-box operations and malicious tampering is effectively eliminated. Put simply, what Newton is doing is not “wrapping DeFi with an AI shell.” Instead, it first builds a secure “execution sandbox,” and then allows AI to run stably within compliant boundaries.

The official launch of this Newton Mainnet Beta is a milestone for the project. It means that this secure Rollup architecture has fully moved from theory to real on-chain operation. The roles of participants throughout the entire ecosystem are also becoming clearly defined: developers can list their self-developed AI agent models on the Model Registry and receive ongoing revenue sharing; node operators provide network services by staking $NEWT and earn transaction fees as well as ecosystem incentives; ordinary users can pay network Gas fees with NEWT to enjoy low-risk AI automation strategy services, and they can also participate in network security governance through staking to share in the benefits of ecosystem growth. At the same time, NEWT is the protocol’s core governance token—deeply involved in adjusting network parameters and making decisions about ecosystem development. The value-capture path is complete and forms a closed loop.

In my view, in the long-term track of AI + blockchain, security is always the “1” at the front, while performance, efficiency, and gameplay are just the “0”s afterward. Without a secure foundation for AI automation, even the smartest solutions are just castles in the air. The roadmap of projects like Newton Protocol—“first building a solid security foundation, then growing ecosystem applications”—stands out as especially solid amid the market’s restless narratives. As Mainnet Beta continues to run, and as more AI strategies and developers join, the value of $NEWT will be released gradually along with the prosperity of the ecosystem. I look forward to Newton taking a truly sustainable development path in the AI + DeFi space.#Newt