NEAR Protocol is a decentralized application platform designed to function as a community-managed cloud computing environment, with an emphasis on developer experience and overall user-friendliness. To address blockchain scalability challenges, it combines a Proof-of-Stake consensus model with sharding. NEAR’s built-in tokens are used for transaction fees and storage within the Near network.

What are NEAR key features and how does it work?

NEAR Protocol focuses on improving blockchain scalability. It aims to do so through a sharding design known as Nightshade. In practice, sharding divides the network into smaller segments, or shards. This lowers the computing burden on any single node because each node processes only the tasks tied to its shard. With that setup, multiple shards can run computations at the same time. Network agreement is reached through Proof-of-Stake. Under PoS, nodes need to stake NEAR tokens to participate as validators. Alternatively, everyday users can delegate their stake to validators they select. NEAR relies on an auction mechanism to pick validators every “epoch” (around every 12 hours), and validators with larger stakes hold more sway during consensus.

The NEAR token is primarily used to cover transaction costs or act as collateral for storing data on the blockchain. NEAR is also distributed as rewards to different groups involved in the NEAR ecosystem. For instance, validators are paid NEAR token rewards each epoch. Smart contract developers also receive a share of the transaction fees produced by their contracts. The rest of the transaction fee is burned, which reduces NEAR’s supply and may help support token value. 

Beyond NFTs, NEAR can accommodate tokens “wrapped” from other chains. NEAR has also built a bridge with Ethereum, enabling users to move ERC-20 tokens from Ethereum over to NEAR.

What can Near Protocol be used for?

Near supports a range of applications across multiple industries. Examples of notable teams working on the platform include Flux, an open market protocol, Mintbase, a service for issuing and selling NFTs, and Paras, an NFT marketplace that focuses on higher-quality collections from selected artists.

Where can you buy NEAR?

Near can be purchased on any of the CEXs and DEXs listed here.