Mert Mumtaz, co-founder and CEO of Helius, has joined the board of the NEAR Foundation to advise on ecosystem strategy.

Role and responsibilities

As chief executive of Helius, Mumtaz will contribute to the NEAR Foundation board on ecosystem strategy and privacy-focused on-chain markets.

He will also work on cross-chain interoperability initiatives and developer outreach, while maintaining his position as CEO of Helius.

Organisations involved

Helius develops infrastructure tooling and APIs for the Solana blockchain, focusing on data indexing, developer integrations and performance optimization.

The NEAR Foundation is a non-profit organization that supports the development, governance and growth of the NEAR protocol ecosystem.

Recent public remarks

Mumtaz recently discussed Solana's structural weaknesses, privacy considerations, and widely held but arguably overvalued ideas in the crypto industry at TOKEN2049.

His comments addressed technical and market topics relevant to infrastructure providers, on-chain privacy features and inter-blockchain coordination efforts.

Context

The appointment formalizes a link between a Solana-focused infrastructure provider and the NEAR governance body, with Mumtaz retaining executive leadership at Helius.

According to the announcement, his board role will centre on strategic ecosystem planning, confidential on-chain market mechanisms and cross-chain communication.