Native Access fails at Loading Products step in initialization

After updating Native Access from 3.17.0 to 3.18.0 it will no longer open, stalling at the “Loading Products” phase of the initialization.

Here is a list of the various steps I have tried without success:

1. (Library > Application Support > Native Instruments

    Delete the folders "Native Access" and "NTK".

    Open the user Library again as shown above. In the user Library folder, navigate to the following location: Library > Preferences

2. Delete the following files:

    com.native-instruments.Native Access.plist

    com.native-instruments.NTKDaemon.plist

3. Rebooted system multiple times

4. Did Recovery Install of the OS

5. I granted Full Access to both Native Access and Kontakt and the NKDaemon

6. I granted read/write access to the Library folders highlighted in the log below

All of these steps have not resolved the issue.

I do not have any VPN, File Vault or Virus Software to switch off, and until the upgrade to 3.18.0, everything worked fine.

I have attached the NTKDaemon log file, as it might be helpful and I noticed three errors which might lead to the issue

[2025-05-04 19:30:17.277] [daemon] [warning] "0x16c003000":Configuration.cpp:58 Could not parse /Users/spikejp/Library/Application Support/Native Instruments/NTK/ntk.json with error: [json.exception.parse_error.101] parse error at line 1, column 1: attempting to parse an empty input; check that your input string or stream contains the expected JSON

2025-05-04 19:30:21.045] [daemon] [error] "0x16c71f000":LocationUtils.cpp:54 Path does not exist: /Library/Application Support/Native Instruments/Service Center/NativeAccess.xml
........
[2025-05-04 19:30:22.167] [daemon] [error] "0x16c71f000":ProductInfoDownloader.cpp:169 Could not copy from /tmp/31d3-4092-018f-f0c2.xml to: /Library/Application Support/Native Instruments/Service Center

Also, the daemon is version: Version: 1.24.0 (R0)

I am operating on a Mac Studio M2 chip, MacOS 15.4.1

There is already a ticket registered for this issue: 4545433

Your support is greatly appreciated.

Spike