Background and education
A formal educational history was not verified in the primary sources used for this profile. No institution or degree is inferred.
How the journey developed
Skidanov co-founded NEAR with Illia Polosukhin. The project’s own account describes an initial connection to artificial-intelligence work before the team turned toward blockchain infrastructure.
Contribution to crypto
His contribution is associated with building the technical foundations of NEAR. The project’s history is useful for following how an initial research and product direction evolved into a public network.
Why the work matters
Founding stories often compress years of engineering into a simple narrative. Readers should separate the origin of the team from the launch and later capabilities of its systems. Current documentation, software and network records establish what operates today; a historical biography establishes how a contributor became involved.
Sources and further reading
Profile reviewed September 8, 2026. Historical roles are identified as such. Education is included only where supported by the sources; an unverified qualification is not assumed.