What is Near?

• NEAR is a layer 1, proof-of-stake blockchain that is one of Ethereum’s rivals, battling to win the fight of achieving scalability.

• The NEAR Collective is also focussed on building a new internet where no one can have access to users’ data and providing users a user-friendly experience to encourage adoption.

• Through its focus on scalability, user-friendliness, and building a permissionless platform, NEAR embodies its motto to become the blockchain for everyone.

NEAR is dedicated to remove friction for developers so that they are encouraged to build in its ecosystem. To provide the simplest way of onboarding users and developers, NEAR supports smart contracts written in widely-used programming languages like Javascript and Rust. Additionally, NEAR allows users to register named accounts instead of a string of alphanumeric symbols, making registration and account management simple to use and remember. To supercharge its user-friendliness, NEAR is also interoperable with Ethereum as it is EVM compatible. This allows droves of Ethereum developers to easily deploy their Solidity contract via NEAR.

In 2021, NEAR announced its integration with the Rainbow Bridge to further encourage DeFi use with NEAR. Cross-chain compatibility allows users to enjoy a more rich experience of DeFi as they can easily hop between ecosystems to benefit from the offers of both chains. Ethereum users can take advantage of NEAR’s one-to-two second transaction times and low transaction fees to get the best of both chains.

NEAR was founded in the summer of 2018 by Alex Skidanov and Illia Polosukhin, former Microsoft and Google employees. The reputable names behind the project has raised people’s confidence in the network. While scalability is a battle that many other chains are fighting, NEAR’s dedication to user-friendliness makes it an interesting player in the game. It is a notable alternative to Ethereum and Solana.

The NEAR token is primarily used as currency for facilitating transactions in its ecosystem, and for staking to secure the NEAR network. NEAR distributes the NEAR tokens as rewards to its validators in order to incentivize holders to continue securing the NEAR network. If you are a NEAR holder, you can earn rewards with your NEAR as well. Learn how to stake your NEAR and earn passive rewards.