The NEAR Foundation and Polygon Labs announced

a strategic partnership to jointly build zkWASM. The zkWASM prover brings the NEAR protocol closer to Ethereum and enables the WASM chain to leverage Ethereum liquidity.

WASM stands for WebAssembly, and it is a binary instruction format that is designed to be fast, efficient, and secure. In the context of blockchain, WASM has emerged as a technology that enables the execution of smart contracts in a more flexible and performant manner.
Traditionally, smart contracts on blockchain platforms like Ethereum are written in programming languages native to the platform, such as Solidity. These contracts are then deployed and executed on the blockchain's virtual machine. However, the drawback of this approach is that each blockchain may have its own virtual machine with its own set of limitations and characteristics.
WASM allows for the execution of smart contracts in a standardized manner across different blockchain platforms. It provides a portable binary format that can be executed by a variety of virtual machines. This means that developers can write smart contracts in languages like Rust, C++, or AssemblyScript and compile them into a WASM binary, which can then be executed on any blockchain that supports the WASM standard.
By using WASM, blockchain platforms can benefit from the optimized performance and increased efficiency of the WASM execution environment. Additionally, the ability to write smart contracts in languages other than the native blockchain language provides developers with greater flexibility and options.
WASM has gained significant attention and adoption in the blockchain space, with several blockchain platforms integrating or planning to integrate it as part of their smart contract infrastructure.