Buy NEAR Protocol (NEAR): value and price trends

What is NEAR Protocol (NEAR)

NEAR Protocol is a Layer 1 blockchain based on the Proof of Stake mechanism, designed to be fast, scalable, energy-efficient and easy to use for both users and developers. NEAR is the native crypto-asset: it is used to pay transaction fees, to take part in network security through staking and in governance.

The network is designed to support decentralised applications (dapps) at scale, with a user experience close to that of traditional applications (for example readable account names instead of long alphanumeric addresses).

How it works: Nightshade sharding

To handle many transactions without becoming congested, NEAR uses sharding (in its implementation called Nightshade): the network is split into “shards” that work in parallel, so that each validator node only has to process part of the overall data. This makes it possible to increase the network’s capacity while keeping fees low.

Those who stake NEAR, directly or by delegating to a validator, contribute to network security and may receive rewards: these are variable rewards, dependent on the protocol and not guaranteed. An internal mechanism regulates the token’s inflation, balancing the needs of users, developers, validators and holders.

From its origins to the AI repositioning

NEAR was founded in 2017 by Illia Polosukhin (a former Google engineer, one of the authors of the research on “Transformers” that underpins modern artificial intelligence models) and Alexander Skidanov (a former Microsoft engineer). Fittingly, the project had started as a machine-learning platform, before moving towards blockchain and smart contracts. Over time it has raised very substantial funding from numerous investment funds.

More recently NEAR has refocused precisely on the theme of artificial intelligence and on so-called “chain abstraction”: the idea of making the underlying blockchain transparent to the user, allowing operation across multiple networks with a single experience (an approach the project also develops through so-called “Intents”). It is an evolution that ties NEAR to two widely-followed narratives, AI and interoperability.

Price trends and what to consider

Like all crypto-assets, NEAR has shown a highly volatile price trend. Its quotations can be influenced by the general trend of the crypto market, by the adoption of the applications built on the network and by interest in the themes (AI, interoperability) on which the project has positioned itself.

Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.