NEAR Protocol

Near is a decentralized development platform built on a sharded, proof-of-stake (PoS), layer-one blockchain that launched its mainnet in 2020. The platform is designed to provide an environment for decentralized applications (DAppsdApps) by overcoming some of the limitations of competing systems (such as low bandwidth, low speed, and poor cross-compatibility). Near also features a community network of innovators, creators, and contributors, and supports the development of its ecosystem through Near Foundation's grant funding efforts.

The platform is also designed to be accessible for those with no in-depth knowledge aboutof the blockchain. It achieves this, in part, through a system of accounts and access keys to them. Regular users can access DAppsdApps built on Near using their usual registration process and may not even know that they are working with the blockchain. The design intent behind this is for developers to reach a wider audience, and improve useability for those already used to working with DAppsdApps.

Near provides various modular components to developers to help them efficiently get their projects operational efficiently. TheseThe includefollowing are examples of the implementation of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), smart contracts, and DAppsdApps. A complete list of examples and their code is located in Near’s official GitHub repository.

N can be used to transfer value across Near applications and accounts. This monetary function enables the creation of applications that use N to charge for various operations, access to data, or executing other complex transactions. N is exchanged within the network in a peer-to-peer manner, without requiring trusted third parties to oversee transactions.

Near has released an Ethereum bridge known as the Rainbow Bridge, allowing users to redirect their tokens from Ethereum to Near. Near also worked on implementing support for the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), the software stack that Ethereum uses to run DAppsdApps. The intent of this project was to enable developers to redeploy their Ethereum applications to Near with little or no change.

The Near Collective community focuses on updating Near’s original code and ecosystem. According to the community, its aim is to build a platform that is “secure enough to manage high valuehigh-value assets like money or identity and performant enough to make them useful for everyday people.”

Near Protocol was founded by Erik Trautman, an entrepreneur with a background in market analysis and founder of Viking Education. His co-founderscofounders were Illia Polosukhin, an artificial intelligence researcher, and Alexander Skidanov, a computer scientist. Near Protocol’s team of developers includes several International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) gold medalists and winners.

Near uses its Nightshade technology to improve transaction throughput. Nightshade is a variation of sharding, in which individual sets of validators process transactions in parallel across multiple sharded chains, increasing the overall capacity of the blockchain. In contrast to other sharding techniques, shards in Nightshade produce a fraction of the next block, called “chunks.” As a result, Near can achieve up to 100,000 transactions per second and near-instant transaction finality owing to a one-second block cadence, while at the same time keeping transaction fees close to zero.

NEAR Protocol launched its mainnet on April 22, 2020, with 1 billion NEAR tokens created at genesis. Of its additional supply, 5% of additional supply is issued each year to support the network as epoch rewards, of which 90% goes to validators (4.5% total) and 10% to the protocol treasury (0.5% total). 30%Thirty percent of transaction fees are paid out as rebates to contracts that interact with a transaction, while the remaining 70% are burned. The NEAR token is used for the following:

• Fees for processing transactions and storing data.
• Running validator nodes on the network via staking NEAR tokens.
• Used for governanceGovernance votes to determine how network resources are allocated.