Farewell and Thanks

[lane]

Last week was my last week at NF. I wanted to take the opportunity to say thank you to everyone here for a really incredible experience this past year. I feel honored and privileged for the opportunity to get to know you all, and the NEAR ecosystem, and to build House of Stake together. I’m extraordinarily proud of what we’ve built and accomplished together, and I’m really optimistic about what the future holds for HoS and, of course, for NEAR more broadly.

When I started, in December 2024, HoS was an idea on a napkin (okay, to be more precise, it was a full design based on an idea on a napkin). Today HoS actually exists: as a governance application, as a website with designs and documentation and policies and procedures, as a set of proposals, as a dedicated team, and, most importantly, as a passionate, engaged, incentive-aligned community that doesn’t always agree on everything, but that agrees on what matters most: the durable health and success of the NEAR ecosystem. More than anything, HoS makes this clearly visible in a way that it never was before.

I’ve learned so much this past year: about governance, about blockchain, about NEAR, about how to be a more effective communicator, leader, and team member. I feel a huge debt of gratitude to the entire NEAR community for welcoming me in and for facilitating that learning: sometimes amicably, sometimes more adversarially, but it was all learning and it was all useful.

You’re in good hands with Angela and the rest of the team, and I’m sure that HoS has a bright future ahead of it. Judging by the work that’s being done here today on the MPC signer set governance, HoS is not only set up for success, with the right people and infrastructure in place, but is also focused on the right things.

I wrote a little bit more about my departure in my personal Substack. I’m not sure what I’ll be doing next, but for now I’ll be focusing on family and on getting caught up on all things AI. f you’re exploring similar ideas or are interested in hacking on things together, reach out anytime. You know where to find me.

We’re playing an infinite game, and this is just the end of the beginning.

“If surprise is no longer possible, all play ceases. Surprise causes finite play to end; it is the reason for infinite play to continue.” - Carse’s Finite and Infinite Games

Lane

[beek520]

@lane

We’re playing an infinite game, and this is just the end of the beginning.

Yeah, we’re playing an infinite game sir @lane , thanks for bridging the way to the new Near Protocol Governance.

Good Luck in your next Endeavours.
-Simon Bebek

[haenko]

Thank you for everything, Lane, you have become a true friend and teacher to me, I hope our paths will cross again.

[Dacha]

@lane

Last week was my last week at NF. I wanted to take the opportunity to say thank you to everyone here for a really incredible experience this past year. I feel honored and privileged for the opportunity to get to know you all, and the NEAR ecosystem, and to build House of Stake together. I’m extraordinarily proud of what we’ve built and accomplished together, and I’m really optimistic about what the future holds for HoS and, of course, for NEAR more broadly.

When I started, in December 2024, HoS was an idea on a napkin (okay, to be more precise, it was a full design based on an idea on a napkin). Today HoS actually exists: as a governance application, as a website with designs and documentation and policies and procedures, as a set of proposals, as a dedicated team, and, most importantly, as a passionate, engaged, incentive-aligned community that doesn’t always agree on everything, but that agrees on what matters most: the durable health and success of the NEAR ecosystem. More than anything, HoS makes this clearly visible in a way that it never was before.

I’ve learned so much this past year: about governance, about blockchain, about NEAR, about how to be a more effective communicator, leader, and team member. I feel a huge debt of gratitude to the entire NEAR community for welcoming me in and for facilitating that learning: sometimes amicably, sometimes more adversarially, but it was all learning and it was all useful.

You’re in good hands with Angela and the rest of the team, and I’m sure that HoS has a bright future ahead of it. Judging by the work that’s being done here today on the MPC signer set governance, HoS is not only set up for success, with the right people and infrastructure in place, but is also focused on the right things.

I wrote a little bit more about my departure in my personal Substack. I’m not sure what I’ll be doing next, but for now I’ll be focusing on family and on getting caught up on all things AI. f you’re exploring similar ideas or are interested in hacking on things together, reach out anytime. You know where to find me.

We’re playing an infinite game, and this is just the end of the beginning.

“If surprise is no longer possible, all play ceases. Surprise causes finite play to end; it is the reason for infinite play to continue.” - Carse’s Finite and Infinite Games

Thank you for everything you’ve shared and built over this past year. HoS undeniably moved from abstraction to something tangible, and that alone is an achievement worth acknowledging.

I do hope that, in your writing and reflections going forward, you’ll speak openly about the full experience - not only the ideals of governance, but also the structural constraints, trade-offs, and centralization pressures that come from operating so close to the NF orbit. Those nuances matter a lot for anyone who genuinely cares about decentralization rather than just its narrative.

From the outside (and often from the inside), many of us felt the tension between what HoS aspired to represent and what was realistically possible within existing power dynamics. Naming that honestly would be incredibly valuable for the ecosystem - especially for people who still believe NEAR can do better.

I hope you can understand where that perspective comes from. Wishing you clarity, rest, and good luck with whatever you choose to build next. Infinite games require truth as much as optimism.

[Axia]

Best of luck, Lane, with your future endeavors!