Near Ecosystem
Near is a scalable blockchain platform that focuses on usability and developer-friendly features. It offers a high-performance environment for building and running decentralized applications. Explore the table on this page that lists projects on Near ecosystem, complete with names, descriptions, and their interest levels as determined by the CryptoTotem algorithm. Learn more ↓
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| Project name | Description | Interest lvl | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | NEAR Protocol | Description NEAR is a user-friendly and carbon-neutral blockchain, built to be fast, secure, and able to grow without limits. The platform uses a Proof-of-Stake consensus m ... | Interest lvl | Add to Watchlist |
 | Aurora (AURORA) | Description Aurora is an EVM built on the NEAR Protocol, delivering a turn-key solution for developers to operate their apps on an Ethereum-compatible, high-throughput, sca ... | Interest lvl | Add to Watchlist |
 | Jumbo | Description Jumbo is designed to be the most user-friendly exchange that sets out to eliminate the common struggles people experience when navigating Decentralized Exchange ... | Interest lvl | Add to Watchlist |
 | ZomLand (ZML) | Description ZomLand is an interactive P2E NFT card game with exciting gameplay and a lot of fun. You take on the leader's role of the army of zombies and monsters to battle ... | Interest lvl | Add to Watchlist |
 | ChatMe | Description Chats & Messages service for NEAR Blockchain: direct messages, channels, public and private chats. | Interest lvl | Add to Watchlist |
 | PembRock (PEM) | Description PembRock Finance is the first leveraged yield farming application on NEAR Protocol. Benefit from greater liquidity for larger yields — all on the NEAR blockch ... | Interest lvl | Add to Watchlist |
What is NEAR network
The NEAR protocol is a decentralized platform for deploying smart contracts and a cloud infrastructure for running DApps.
The NEAR protocol creates an entire stack of blockchain abstractions, allowing developers to build applications for billions of users and all blockchains.
Launched in 2020 the protocol, led by two CIS natives, Alexander Skidanov and Ilya Polosukhin, managed to raise $50 million in venture capital investment a little earlier, in 2019. In August 2020, NEAR held an ICO in which token sales brought the team another $40 million.
NEAR was built with developers and users in mind, so it features key innovations to accelerate app development and connect users. The product also contains more than 18,000 pre-built blocks for integration into Web-3 applications.
Partners & investors
- a16z (Andreessen Horowitz)
- Multicoin Capital
- Electric Capital
- IDEO CoLab Ventures
- Fabric Ventures
- DragonFly Capital
- Fundamental Labs
- Pantera Capital
- Blockchange Ventures
- Coinbase Ventures and many others.
Since its inception, NEAR Protocol has attracted tens of strategic partners including: Coinbase, OKX, Chainlink, Balancer, Ledger, TrustWallet, Aave, 1inch, MoonPay and others.
How does NEAR work
It is worth considering the key mechanics that the protocol has implemented in its system.
The NEAR protocol is an advanced L1 blockchain which is based on the Proof-of-stake algorithm. To achieve a high level of scalability, NEAR Protocol uses sharding, which is a technology for separating and storing transaction information.
The NEAR protocol specification is also known as Nightshade. It is used to optimize the performance of sharding – dividing the network infrastructure into several independently operating segments (shards).
Another difference between Nightshade and other sharding solutions (such as Polkadot) is that all shards are parts of a single blockchain, not separate networks. In this case, the blockchain only records a snapshot of the current state of each shard, not all transactions in it. That is, each block of the network contains a snapshot of each shard’s transactions. Each shard’s transactions are validated by its own validators – they send data to the network every time a block is generated. It is Nightshade that allows NEAR Protocol to achieve high transaction speeds.
At the same time, it is worth noting that NEAR Protocol has a unique version of the delegated PoS algorithm, Thresholded Proof-Of-Stake (TPoS). Thus, the technology attracts more participants by making the system more decentralized.
The NEAR protocol also utilizes the Doomslug mechanism. This is a consensus mechanism where validators perform block verification according to the number of frozen tokens, instead of competing directly based on staking size.
Notably, NEAR contains quite a wide range of tools, from explorers to CLI tools, from NFT applications to compatibility components that help developers build much simpler applications and extend the ecosystem.
Key advantages of NEAR blockchain
Secure
An ecosystem of validators maintains the integrity of the network. And with the development of sharding and the launch of Simple Nightshade – the number of validators will only grow.
Friendly
NEAR has a unique system of accounts with readable addresses and multiple keys to access them.
Efficient
Low transaction fees for users and developers get 30% of transaction fees, NFT forwarding costs less than 1 cent.
Harmonious
Rainbow Bridge is designed to ensure interoperability between networks. For example, you can move your assets between Ethereum and NEAR.
Eco-friendly
NEAR is the first carbon-neutral Proof-of-Stake ecosystem. NEAR incentivises the development of startups that solve environmental problems in the world.
Pragmatic
Smart contracts can be written in AssebleScript and Rust, with the ability to make interpreters for almost all existing languages.
Token NEAR
An internal cryptocurrency NEAR, acts as the main unit of account for the ecosystem. It also has several important uses. First, it is used as payment for the fees required to process transactions on the network. These fees allow the NEAR blockchain to be maintained and protected.
Most of the commissions charged for transactions are burned, thereby reducing the total supply of the NEAR token. However, a small portion of the commissions are used to reward developers whose smart contracts were involved in these transactions. This is a way to incentivise developers and support the growth of the NEAR ecosystem.
Conclusion
As we can see, NEAR is a thriving project that is certainly attractive to the community and developers. As a blockchain project, it has a great chance of future success. The developers have already made significant efforts to attract a wide audience. They are simplifying the use of the system, reducing the financial burden by lowering commissions. Therefore, it is expected that the project will continue to confidently succeed and strengthen its position in the Web 3 space.