Over the last year, being present on the internet has probably introduced you to terms like NFTs, the Metaverse, etc. We have already talked about Ethereum and how the terms above have made it clogged and too slow to be considered a viable solution for scaling cryptocurrencies in the future. We have also written guides on various networks trying to solve and mitigate those Ethereum issues, such as Solana and Ethereum. This guide is about one similar network trying to achieve the same thing called NEAR.
NEAR Protocol is a layer-one blockchain that aims to be a community-run cloud computing platform that overcomes some of the issues that have plagued rival blockchains, such as slow transaction rates, limited throughput, and poor compatibility. This gives an excellent environment for decentralized apps while also making the platform developer and user pleasant.
There are a few things that NEAR does differently than other blockchain networks. Unlike Ethereum, which utilizes cryptographic wallet addresses, NEAR utilizes human-readable account names.
NEAR also introduces unique solutions to scaling problems, such as Nightshade and Rainbow Bridge. Nightshade allows NEAR to have a transaction speed of 100K. Rainbow Bridge enables users to transfer Ethereum-based tokens to NEAR and back without problems. It also has its custom consensus mechanism called Doomslug.
NEAR token is primarily used for paying transaction fees on the network and as collateral for storing data on the blockchain.
At the time of writing (May 16th, 2022), NEAR’s price is $6.78. The current Market Cap ranking is #21, with a market cap of $4.6B.
2021 was a strong year for NEAR, recording a constant growth over 2021. 2022 started with a bang, with NEAR hitting its all-time high price of $20 in January. After that, the market correction impacted the price of NEAR and eventually reduced it to a price of sub $10.
NEAR protocol created 1 billion NEAR tokens at the creation of the first block, which was allocated to individuals and organizations on an ongoing basis during the rollout of its blockchain on April 22, 2020. Inflation, transfers, and vesting schedules did not begin until NEAR’s blockchain rollout final phase, which started on October 13, 2020.
Initial token distribution went as follows:
Each year, 5% of new supply is released as epoch incentives to help support the network, with 90% going to validators (4.5%) and 10% going to the protocol treasury (0.5 percent total). Contracts that engage with a transaction receive 30% of transaction fees as rebates, while the remaining 70% is burnt.
The current circulating supply of NEAR tokens is 682.3M.
The primary way people buy their NEAR is through centralized exchanges because they offer the ability to purchase them with credit\debit cards, which most people prefer.
Although significantly more complicated, the second way is through decentralized exchanges such as Uniswap. Decentralized exchanges usually require users to already have some cryptocurrencies in their wallets to buy other cryptos.
Finally, it can be purchased easily through a broker app such as our Veli App, where you can get your hands on some NEAR in just a few taps on the screen.
Erik Trautman, the creator of Viking Education and an entrepreneur with Wall Street expertise, established NEAR Protocol.
Illia Polosukhin has over ten years of industry expertise, including three years at Google, and Alexander Skidanov were his co-founders. This computer scientist began his career with Microsoft before joining memSQL as the director of engineering.
NEAR Protocol has a large staff of professional engineers, including multiple gold medalists and winners from the International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC).
NEAR launched an $800 million ecosystem financing campaign on October 25, 2021, following the footsteps of other Layer-1 blockchains such as Avalanche, Fantom, and Celo. The funds will be used to support activities aimed at advancing the expansion of the NEAR protocol ecosystem, including:
NEAR has built out a fantastic community around its network. They have over 83K members in their community with over 1M wallet addresses holding NEAR and over 100 guilds created with various talking topics related to NEAR. They also have a community fund that has raised over $5M for multiple causes and grants.
Some of the most prominent VCs have invested in NEAR Protocol, including Pantera, Arrington XRP Capital, Coinbase Ventures, and Blockchain.com.
NEAR has not faced any legal issues that are known of.
NEAR’s main competitors are Solana and Ethereum.
Ethereum is the world’s first programmable blockchain that allows users to create decentralized applications using blockchain technology. The main differences between NEAR and Ethereum are that NEAR is much faster and much cheaper than this version of Ethereum.
Solana is a high-speed layer 1 blockchain network that is also focused on allowing users to scale their applications and software. NEAR and Solana differ in such ways that Solana sacrifices some of the decentralization to achieve this speed, while NEAR takes a distinct approach to blockchain technology. Also, NEAR is 2x faster than Solana and cheaper.
Here is some additional information so you can understand the competition in a better way.
Near Protocol | Solana | Ethereum | |
Transactions per second | 100,000 | 50,000 | 15 |
Time needed to confirm a transaction | almost instant | 13s | 6 min |
Average transaction fee | near 0 | 0.00025 | 15$ |
Market cap | $8.1b | $29.14b | $310b |
Circulation supply | 67.67% | No limit on the number of tokens | No limit on the number of tokens |
Total number of wallet addresses | 1.7m+ | 2m+ | 150.6m |
Total number of daily active users | 14k | 195k | 509k |
Launch date | 2020 | 2020 | 2015 |
Average growth rate | \ | 340.60% | 178.20% |
When it comes to investing, there are obvious risks, just as there are with any other asset type. Because there are so many types of cryptocurrencies, risks may be divided into two categories: generic risks that apply to all cryptocurrencies and coin-specific risks.
We’ve put up a guide that covers broad cryptocurrency investment risks and provides advice on how to reduce them, while risks related to individual assets are handled specifically in coin guides such as this one.
Website: https://near.org/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NEARProtocol
Telegram: https://t.me/cryptonear
Medium: https://medium.com/nearprotocol
NEAR is a layer 1 blockchain network that focuses on solving the issues of low transaction speed, poor communication between networks, and low throughput. It achieves this by offering many new unique technological approaches.
Near had an amazing last year and a great start to this year, even with the market correction. With a fantastic community around it and significant backing for a technical roadmap ahead of them, we can only wait to see how this story unfolds further.
