NEAR Protocol (NEAR)
NEAR Protocol is a layer-1 blockchain that employs a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, facilitating the creation of decentralized applications. Founded by Illia Polosukhin and Alex Skidanov, the protocol has a native token, NEAR, used for transaction fees and storage costs on its network. The mainnet of NEAR Protocol was launched in April 2020, and by September 2020, it transitioned to community operation.
Overview of NEAR Protocol
NEAR Protocol addresses scalability issues in traditional blockchains through sharding. Sharding divides the network into smaller parts, called shards, which reduces the computational load. Each network node processes only the code relevant to its shard, allowing parallel processing and enhancing network scalability with an increasing number of nodes.
| Ticker | NEAR |
| Category | Artificial Intelligence (AI) |
| Website | https://near.org/ |
| @nearprotocol | |
| Telegram | cryptonear |
On January 30, 2024, NEAR Protocol announced the testing launch for Phase 2 of Sharding. This phase brings significant upgrades to NEAR’s core protocol architecture, further enhancing scalability and decentralization. It introduces stateless validation, where validators no longer need to maintain a shard's state locally, retrieving necessary information from the network.
Illia Polosukhin, Co-Founder of NEAR Protocol and CEO of NEAR Foundation, stated, “NEAR continues to make progress on bringing Chain Abstraction infrastructure that can scale to a billion users and beyond.”
Blockchain Operating System (BOS)
On March 2, 2023, NEAR revealed its transition to a Blockchain Operating System (BOS). This industry-first framework acts as a common layer for browsing and discovering open web experiences, compatible with any blockchain. Polosukhin noted that the framework allows decentralized front ends to work with both Web2 and Web3 back ends, enhancing user experiences across chains.
Nightshade technology
NEAR Protocol employs Nightshade technology to boost transaction throughput. Nightshade is a sharding method where validators process transactions across multiple sharded chains simultaneously, increasing blockchain capacity. Unlike traditional sharding, Nightshade creates "chunks," which are small portions of the next block, enabling NEAR to manage up to 100,000 transactions per second with near-instant finality.
Rainbow Bridge
The Rainbow Bridge facilitates asset transfers between Ethereum and NEAR, built by Aurora. It supports various ERC-20 tokens, enabling interoperability between MetaMask and NEAR wallets, enhancing user flexibility in asset management across the two networks.
Doomslug consensus mechanism
NEAR Protocol uses a consensus mechanism called Doomslug, a variation of Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS), which allows the network to achieve practical finality with one confirmation round. Doomslug distinguishes between Doomslug finality and Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) finality, ensuring robust security and efficiency in transaction validation.
NEAR Token
The NEAR token serves as the native cryptocurrency for NEAR Protocol, facilitating transaction fees and storage costs. It can be staked by holders to participate in transaction validation and network consensus. The token is crucial for processing transactions and storing data.
Tokenomics
At genesis, one billion NEAR tokens were created, with allocations spread across various stakeholders: Community Grants and Programs (17.20%), Core Contributors (14.00%), Community Sale (12.00%), Early Ecosystem (11.76%), Operations Grants (11.40%), Foundation Endowment (10.00%), Seed Round (15.23%), and Venture Round (8.41%).
NEAR Foundation
Established on April 22, 2020, the NEAR Foundation is a Switzerland-based non-profit organization supporting the NEAR ecosystem's development. Its mission is to accelerate the transition to open technologies by fostering a community of developers and creators. The foundation's vision is to build a self-sufficient ecosystem characterized by collaboration among creators, developers, entrepreneurs, community members, and tokenholders.
Illia Polosukhin, appointed CEO in November 2023, leads the NEAR Foundation. He is committed to building an open web and coordinating a decentralized ecosystem. On April 8, 2024, the foundation launched the Infrastructure Committee to strengthen NEAR’s Key Infrastructure.
Near Foundation Council
The NEAR Foundation Council governs the foundation, similar to a board of directors. This body is responsible for making significant decisions for the organization. Council members include Diogo Monica, Illia Polosukhin, Sheila Warren, Chris Donovan, and Richard Muirhead.
Near.AI's master plan
On June 18, 2024, NEAR.AI, a project under the NEAR Foundation, unveiled a plan to develop open-source and user-owned Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). The initiative aims to create an AI Developer to teach machines coding and an AI Researcher to advance AGI. NEAR's strong user base, developer community, and resources position it well to achieve this vision, emphasizing open-source development for transparency and user ownership.
Partnerships and collaborations
NEAR Protocol x Google Cloud
On October 4, 2022, NEAR Protocol announced a strategic partnership with Google to support web3 startups by providing technical assistance through Google Cloud. This collaboration aids developers in building and scaling web3 projects on the NEAR Protocol.
NEAR Protocol x SeatlabNFT
SeatlabNFT, an NFT-based event ticketing marketplace built on NEAR, utilizes Nightshade for scalability. It enables artists to sell event tickets directly to fans, ensuring ticket authenticity and eliminating scalpers.
NEAR Wallet x SWEAT
In partnership with Sweatcoin, the NEAR Foundation launched SWEAT, a token encouraging physical activity. Sweatcoin rewards users with tokens for steps taken, redeemable for various goods and services.
NEAR Foundation x Binance Custody
On November 7, 2022, the NEAR Foundation integrated with Binance Custody, offering secure digital asset custody for institutional investors. This integration supports NEP-141 tokens, facilitating their use within the NEAR ecosystem.
NEAR Foundation x Grupo Nutresa
NEAR partnered with Grupo Nutresa to introduce blockchain technology into the grocery industry. Grupo Nutresa plans to create an open-source loyalty point program on the NEAR blockchain, targeting one million users in Latin America.
NEAR Foundation x Meta Pool
On February 7, 2024, Meta Pool launched the Enterprise Node Operators (ENO) program in collaboration with NEAR Foundation. This initiative aims to enhance NEAR’s institutional network by partnering with enterprise-grade companies.
NEAR Foundation x D3
On February 8, 2024, NEAR Foundation partnered with D3 to secure the ‘.near’ Top-Level Domain (TLD). This collaboration integrates D3’s digital identities into the NEAR ecosystem, promoting utility for users and developers.
Funding
On January 13, 2022, the NEAR Foundation completed a $150 million funding round led by Three Arrows Capital, with participation from prominent cryptocurrency investment funds. Three months later, the protocol raised $350 million in a funding round led by Tiger Global, aiming to expedite the decentralization of the NEAR ecosystem.
Transformer 8
Illia Polosukhin, co-founder of NEAR, contributed to the paper "Attention Is All You Need," co-authored with seven Google colleagues, collectively known as the "Transformer 8." In March 2024, they appeared on stage at