Tiger Global, a private equity firm, led a $350m funding round in Near Protocol, a blockchain company, with participation from Republic Capital, Hashed, FTX Ventures and Dragonfly Capital. “NEAR is poised to be a leading smart contract blockchain platform, combining first-rate technology with a fast-growing developer ecosystem. We're excited to support NEAR as we ramp up our investments in the digital asset space,” John Curtius, Tiger Global Partner.