I noticed an interesting point: when you look at how the blockchain industry is developing, you often see the influence of one person — Ilya Polosukhin. It’s no coincidence that he is considered one of the key figures in the ecosystem.

Polosukhin came into crypto with a solid background. He worked at Google for seven years, where he was involved in developing TensorFlow — the very machine learning library that has become the standard for AI researchers worldwide. By the way, he’s from MIPT, so his foundation was strong.

But his main achievement is NEAR Protocol. When Ilya Polosukhin launched the protocol, he was solving a specific problem: blockchain was complex and inconvenient for ordinary developers. NEAR was created as a scalable platform where decentralized applications could be easily built. And it worked — the protocol attracted the attention of serious players.

What’s especially impressive is how Polosukhin approached user experience. Aurora — a Layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum based on NEAR — was a smart move. Launched in 2021, it opened up new possibilities for the entire ecosystem.

Interestingly, Ilya Polosukhin’s influence extends far beyond a single protocol. His work on TensorFlow showed that open tools can change the industry. He’s trying to do the same in blockchain — make the technology accessible rather than an exclusive, elitist thing.

The crypto industry has embraced this idea. Now more projects focus on user convenience, AI integration, and scalability. The trend that Polosukhin essentially set has become the standard.

Overall, when you see how the DeFi sector and decentralized applications are evolving, you realize that Ilya Polosukhin has left a significant mark. His vision of what an accessible blockchain platform should be continues to influence how the crypto ecosystem is built today.