What Is NEAR Protocol? The Sharded Layer 1 Blockchain Explained

NEAR Protocol is a scalable, Proof-of-Stake network focusing on user accessibility. NEAR’s revolutionary sharding technology, uncommon transaction rate mechanism, and growing interoperability with other networks are helping the protocol develop at a like a flash rate. 

NEAR Protocol Unpacked

NEAR Protocol is a sharded Layer 1 blockchain the use of a Proof-of-Stake. Launched in April 2020, the network is the brainchild of musty Google engineer Illia Polosukhin and Microsoft developer Alexander Skidanov. 

Even supposing NEAR is a blockchain network in its new iteration, it started life as a machine studying project exploring program synthesis—in layman’s phrases, instructing machines to code. Polosukhin and Skidanov’s study indirectly led them to programmable natty contracts and crypto rate technology in early 2018. By August, the pair had switched gears, leaving on the assist of program synthesis to fabricate NEAR Protocol fat-time. 

Like many other Layer 1 blockchains, NEAR’s technology goals to tackle the “Blockchain Trilemma”—the proposition that it is some distance noteworthy to make a scalable, decentralized, and exact blockchain with out compromising on any one part.

NEAR Protocol’s intention to fixing the Blockchain Trilemma is by implementing a horizontal scaling characteristic known as sharding. It in point of fact works by splitting a blockchain node network into smaller partitions is known as “shards.” Every shard consists of its like records and would possibly perchance presumably well gathered be dilapidated to process transactions in unison with other shards, rising the total throughput of the network. Due to the its shard technology, it claims it would process up to 100,000 transactions per 2nd, outpacing other rival natty contract platforms by some distance. 

While sharding is no longer any longer uncommon to NEAR Protocol (Ethereum moreover plans to implement sharding on the completion of Ethereum 2.0), it has built on the intention by developing dynamic re-sharding. On NEAR, as an exchange of the necessity of shards being static, the network will continuously adjust the amount supported according to user search files from. By dynamically adjusting the necessity of shards dilapidated, NEAR can decrease the in style price of the use of the network while inserting forward the functionality for excessive transaction throughput. 

Transaction costs on NEAR Protocol prepare other Proof-of-Stake networks in that they’re very low when put next to blockchains cherish Bitcoin and Ethereum. NEAR’s protocol documentation asserts that the cost of sending funds is roughly 4.5⨉10⁻⁵ NEAR tokens, rivaling Solana in how low-price its transactions are. As a Proof-of-Stake network, NEAR doesn’t exhaust dapper portions of electricity to validate its network and has been rated carbon objective by the worldwide native weather solutions provider South Pole. 

Staking validators securing the network are paid in NEAR token rewards proportional to their total stake, necessary the identical as Solana and Avalanche’s Delegated Proof-of-Stake methods. The protocol generates new tokens at a rate of 5% of the total provide every three hundred and sixty five days, with most of them being given as rewards to validators. Safety is maintained by technique of slashing—a penalty applied to a validator’s stake for inactivity, dishonest validations, or any other malicious behavior. 

Nonetheless, NEAR differs from other Proof-of-Stake networks in that it doesn’t punish customers who delegate their funds to a validator. If a validator will get slashed, customers most productive stand to lose likely rewards as an exchange of a portion of their delegated stake. 

Additionally, to offset the 5% inflation from validator rewards, NEAR’s tokenomics moreover like a rate burn mechanism comparable to Ethereum’s EIP-1559. On NEAR, 70% of all transaction costs are burned, which system that the network turns into more disinflationary as usage increases. At a median of 1.5 billion transactions despatched per day, the NEAR token would change into deflationary, with its token provide reducing by 0.475% per three hundred and sixty five days. 

NEAR’s Center of attention on Accessibility

A key center of attention of NEAR Protocol is making the network as accessible and user-friendly as that you would possibly perchance well presumably presumably presumably deem. This tackle user-accessibility stems from when Polosukhin and Skidanov had been engaged on program synthesis assist in 2017. In a 2020 interview with The Defiant, Polosukhin acknowledged:

“We in point of fact wanted to like a machine studying model that a customary one who doesn’t know form programming would be in a position to sign what they wish, and the computer would write codes for them. It’s a actually hard process; moderately a few folks had been engaged on it.”

With NEAR, the pair are staying upright to their preliminary imaginative and prescient of abstracting away the cruel facets of technology. The NEAR whitepaper even states that “functions deployed to the platform would possibly perchance presumably well gathered be seamless to make use of for cease customers and seamless to make for developers.”

To originate this, NEAR has made the process of developing a pockets necessary more intuitive and user-friendly than other networks. From the commence, customers make NEAR accounts with human-readable domain names with out having to rely on third-party suppliers such as Ethereum Name Carrier. Additionally, NEAR accounts tackle every pockets’s non-public keys by technique of two-ingredient authentication, inserting forward self-custody but making the user expertise less clunky and more comparable to what customers are conversant in in Web2 functions. 

When interacting with functions on NEAR, a few more usability choices advance into play. A straightforward subscription interface lets customers arrange the apps they’ve given permissions to, and the costs of the use of the network will likely be made more predictable by letting app developers pay for costs on behalf of their customers.  

NEAR’s usability choices moreover extend to developers. Developing functions has been made more uncomplicated by giving developers the ability to fabricate and deploy functions the use of JavaScript, Rust, and AssemblyScript SDKs. A entire host of developer instruments like moreover been created, along side NEAR Explorer, a blockchain search tool allowing developers to glimpse transaction particulars, accounts, and block particulars.

One more of NEAR’s uncommon choices is that natty contracts working on the network design 30% of the costs paid to work along with them. The contract’s proprietor (or owners) can hold how these funds are dispensed, helping decentralized self reliant organizations aim more fluidly. The percentage of costs dispensed is a machine-level parameter and would possibly perchance presumably well gathered be adjusted by governance votes, as is in style in decentralized organizations across the crypto position. 

NEAR’s Interoperability

As other Layer 1 blockchains like shown, interoperability is mandatory to rising user adoption. NEAR has boosted integration with existing networks by technique of Aurora Community, a protocol that offers compatibility with the Ethereum Virtual Machine. Users can straight bridge funds from NEAR Protocol, Ethereum, and a few alternative Layer 1 chains to Aurora the use of Allbridge or Rainbow Bridge. 

Even supposing DeFi exercise on Aurora is gathered in its infancy, a few initiatives are constructing out the infrastructure wanted to carry more liquidity to the network. Trisolaris, Aurora’s significant decentralized exchange, has already accumulated $412 million in total price locked and supports trading for heaps of native Ethereum DeFi tokens, such as Aave, Balancer, Compound, and Sushi. 

Additionally, a latest partnership between NEAR and Terra system customers can now bridge Terra tokens cherish LUNA and UST over to Aurora, creating more trading and yield farming opportunities on the network. Blockchain infrastructure initiatives cherish The Graph and MATH Pockets like moreover started making their intention onto Aurora, taking into consideration more complex protocols to be built in due route. 

One more project working to extend NEAR’s interoperability with other blockchains is Octopus Community. It’s aiming to make an interoperable network of application-particular blockchains known as appchains, which will likely be validated by the Octopus Community natty contracts hosted on NEAR. 

In some ways, Octopus Community works similarly to Polkadot and its ecosystem of parachains. The Octopus natty contracts make a relay on NEAR Protocol, which validates all appchains built on the network. The network moreover consists of a validator node network that appchains pay to exact their functions. Nonetheless, bootstrapping appchains on Octopus is some distance less costly than making an strive for into Polkadot’s parachain auctions. Where the winners of Polkadot’s first parachain auctions received over $1 billion price of DOT by technique of crowdloans to exact parachain slots, launching an appchain charges nearer to $2 million in Octopus Community’s OCT token. 

The Octopus Community is moreover designed to be cherish minded with other NEAR-essentially based mostly tokens and the Inter-Blockchain Communication protocol, opening up many more imperfect-chain probabilities with other blockchains engaged on IBC-compatibility, such as Cosmos. 

As the NEAR network is currently home to most productive a few functions, some like labeled it a “ghost chain.” Nonetheless, essentially the latest disclose of alternative exchange Layer 1 networks cherish Solana, Avalanche, and Terra has shown that the market believes in a multi-chain future. The question is whether or no longer or no longer NEAR will reach constructing its like thriving DeFi ecosystem cherish the rising stars of 2021 did. 

Solana and Avalanche noticed like a flash disclose in 2021 partly because they supplied generous rewards to entice builders onto their networks, and NEAR has a identical strategy. In October, NEAR announced an $800 million fund to incentivize developers to fabricate on NEAR and its auxiliary networks, Aurora and Octopus. Once newly funded initiatives open to launch, the dependable test, whether or no longer NEAR Protocol will likely be in a position to attract more liquidity and set network outcomes, will open. 

Disclosure: On the time of penning this text, the author owned NEAR, ETH, SOL, LUNA, and a few alternative cryptocurrencies.