2025 marked a pivotal transformation for NERO Chain, as we transitioned from a core technology developer into a thriving global ecosystem leader. Throughout the year, our journey spanned Dubai, Tokyo, Seoul, Singapore, and Vietnam, forging deep alliances with top-tier global projects. Under the spotlight of major international media, we successfully executed our TGE and announced several landmark partnerships that define our future.

Key Milestones of 2025

Q1 — Laying the Foundation

• Strategic Interoperability: Announced a partnership with Hyperlane (March) to enable seamless cross-chain communication.

• Massive Adoption: Testnet participation surged, surpassing 100,000+ unique addresses.

Q2 — Brand Identity & Institutional Trust

• NERO Samurai NFT: Launched in April as an “OG identity” for early supporters, successfully uniting our core community under the “Samurai” banner.

• Institutional Validation: In May, NTT Digital (a subsidiary of Japan’s telecom giant NTT) officially joined as a validator, significantly enhancing network security and signaling institutional confidence.

Q3 — Token Generation Event (TGE)

• Major Exchange Listings: On July 25, $NERO was officially listed on Bitget, Gate.io, and MEXC.

• Market Momentum: The Bitget CandyBomb campaign attracted tens of thousands of participants, with NERO’s trading volume and social engagement ranking at the top of the public chain category.

Q4 — Global Expansion

• Southeast Asian Footprint: In November, NERO hosted two high-profile offline events in Vietnam, strengthening our presence in one of the world’s fastest-growing Web3 markets.

Global Events & World Tour

In 2025, NERO Chain’s voice resonated across the world’s top-tier crypto conferences：

• TOKEN2049 Dubai (April): Showcased our Blockspace 2.0 architecture. Our Paymaster-powered gasless user experience drew significant interest from Middle Eastern investors and developers.

• Japan (Home Market Advantage): Beyond onboarding CoinTrade (Ceres subsidiary) and NTT Digital as validators, we established a joint venture with CoinPost, Japan’s leading Web3 media outlet, solidifying NERO as the region’s premier modular blockchain.

• Seoul, South Korea (September): During Korea Blockchain Week (KBW), NERO hosted an exclusive VIP Night, deepening ties with local VCs and institutional partners.

• Vietnam Tour (November): Engaged hundreds of students and dozens of influential KOLs in Ho Chi Minh City through university campus events and meetups.

Ecosystem & Strategic Partnerships

Institutional-Grade Validators:

• Major enterprise institutions such as CoinTrade and NTT Digital participate in the network as validator nodes, jointly building a trusted and stable foundational layer for NERO Chain.

A New GameFi Paradigm:

• Welcomed YULIVERSE and RealGo (Mixed Reality) to explore next-generation on-chain gameplay combining LBS + VR.

Infrastructure & Wallets:

• IoTrust (D’CENT / WEPIN Wallet): Deep integration of biometric hardware wallets, making asset security intuitive and accessible.

• Cross-Chain Powerhouses: Integrated Hyperlane and Orbiter, enabling seamless asset transfers between NERO and 50+ other blockchains.

Investment & Backing:

• Secured strategic support from institutions such as Arcanum Capital (a Tether investor) and Triple Gem Capital, providing strong financial backing for long-term ecosystem growth.

Media Coverage

In 2025, NERO Chain consistently made headlines across leading crypto media outlets:

• Odaily (Xingqiu Daily): Published in-depth coverage of NERO Chain’s fundraising progress and its validator partnership with NTT Digital, hailing NERO as a “trailblazer of Japan’s modular public blockchain sector.”

• Bitget News: Featured NERO prominently during its TGE, repeatedly spotlighting exchange listings and the CandyBomb campaign — significantly boosting global liquidity and market visibility.

• CoinPost: As Japan’s largest Web3 media outlet and a strategic partner, CoinPost provided continuous, multi-dimensional coverage of NERO Chain throughout the year, firmly establishing NERO’s brand in Japan as a technology-driven public blockchain.

Asset Mobility Across Chains (Staking & Interoperability)

In 2025, NERO Chain went beyond token issuance to build a complete loop for asset value creation and circulation. Through a multi-layered staking system and best-in-class cross-chain infrastructure, we empowered user assets with greater utility and liquidity.

This year marked the official launch of the NERO Staking Hub, designed to serve users with diverse risk and yield preferences.

Official Dual-Staking Framework (NERO Staking)

Via staking.nerochain.io, we introduced two core yield products tailored to different asset management needs:

• Node Staking (Consensus-Layer Yield):
  a) Users can delegate $NERO to mainnet validators to directly participate in network consensus and security.
  b) With enterprise-grade operators such as NTT Digital and CoinTrade running validator nodes, users earn stable APR while contributing to the decentralization and security of the NERO mainnet.

• DeFi Staking (Application-Layer Yield)
  a) Distinct from traditional node delegation, the official DeFi Staking module offers more flexible opportunities for asset growth.
  b) By locking assets or providing liquidity tokens to designated DeFi pools, users can earn additional ecosystem incentives on top of base inflation rewards — making this a key channel for NERO to directly incentivize ecosystem liquidity.

Cross-Chain Powerhouses: Breaking the Silos (Strategic Bridge Partners)

To make asset transfers into and out of NERO Chain as simple as sending an email, we deeply integrated with industry-leading interoperability protocols:

• Orbiter Finance (Ultra-Fast Bridging):
  As a leading cross-chain bridge in the L2 ecosystem, Orbiter officially supports NERO Chain. Users can now enjoy near-instant, low-slippage asset transfers between Ethereum Layer 2 networks and NERO.

• Router Protocol (Chain Abstraction & Interoperability):
  By integrating Router’s Chain Abstraction technology, we removed asset barriers between blockchains. Beyond simple transfers, users can enable cross-chain messaging and interoperability — bringing the vision of “one chain connecting all of Web3” closer to reality.

Community & Culture

In 2025, the NERO Chain community didn’t just grow — it evolved. If technology is NERO’s backbone, then our 54,000+ community members worldwide are its lifeblood.

NERO Global Ambassador Program (NERO Chain Samurai Program)

This year, the Samurai Program became a major success and a critical bridge between the core team and local markets around the world:

• Global Reach: We successfully onboarded 40+ core ambassadors across 10+ countries and regions, with strong representation in Japan, Southeast Asia, Chinese-speaking regions, CIS, and English-speaking markets.

• Localization Pioneers: Ambassadors consistently translated and distributed NERO updates in their local languages. Especially during the TGE period, they worked around the clock across multiple language channels — ensuring a smooth onboarding experience for tens of thousands of new users.

• Key Contributors: A heartfelt thank you to every Moderator and Community Leader. Your 24/7 dedication kept the community orderly, vibrant, and welcoming — making NERO’s Discord one of the fastest-responding and most friendly communities in the industry.

Discord: The On-Chain City That Never Sleeps

When you enter our Discord, what you see is more than just growing numbers — it’s the collision of ideas and creativity:

• Record-Breaking Engagement: Daily active messages peaked in Q3, with the #General and #Developers channels becoming frontline hubs for discussions on modular blockchain technology.

• UGC Creativity Explosion: Community members voluntarily created 1,000+ pieces of original content, including NERO tutorial videos, in-depth technical threads, viral memes, and stunning fan art. Your creativity truly amazed us!

Message for 2026

If 2025 was the “Year of Infrastructure” for NERO Chain, then 2026 will be defined as our “Year of Velocity.”

Building on our upcoming go-to-market strategy, NERO Chain will accelerate through three core engines — regional deepening, ecosystem incubation, and brand breakout — to evolve from an Asia-driven growth engine into a truly global public blockchain brand.

1. Ecosystem Incubation: Builder from Asia

We will bring the “Builder Chain” identity to life by leveraging token incentives to incubate killer applications:

• Global Hackathons (Q4 / Q1):
  Launching NERO Hackathon Season 2, with a strong focus on DeFi, GameFi, and AI. Winning teams will receive fast-track access to the NERO Grant Accelerator.

• Flagship Project Support (Q1):
  Introducing the “NERO Ecosystem Spotlight” program — mobilizing full-network resources (official traffic + media interviews) to spotlight 3–5 top ecosystem projects, creating real on-chain traffic benchmarks.

2. Brand Breakout: Resonance Beyond the Circle

In Q2 2026, NERO will enter a peak phase of global brand momentum:

• Global Voice:
  Launching the “Builder from Asia” brand campaign in collaboration with leading global media networks, sharing NERO’s technical DNA and ecosystem philosophy with developers and users worldwide — elevating brand recognition from a regional leader to an international public chain.

• Builder Conference:
  This May, we will bring together Asia’s top developers and institutions at the NERO Asia Builder Conference, showcasing the tangible achievements of the mainnet ecosystem.

With a more mature ecosystem and stronger conviction, we move forward toward the vast horizon of mass adoption.

The best is yet to come. Let’s build 2026 together 🚀