NEAR

Layer 1 blockchain designed for usability and scalability.

About NEAR

NEAR Protocol is a scalable, developer-first Layer 1 blockchain designed to overcome usability and fragmentation challenges in Web3. It combines AI-native capabilities with chain abstraction technology, enabling applications to interact seamlessly across multiple blockchains while maintaining high performance. The protocol processes over 1.3 million daily transactions with 1-second finality and supports JavaScript-based development, making it accessible to 20M+ web developers globally.

Main Products/Services

• Chain Abstraction SDK for cross-chain interoperability
• Nightshade sharding system for horizontal scalability
• FastAuth passwordless authentication system
• AI agent framework for autonomous transaction management
• Human-readable accounts (e.g., alice.near)

Web3 Significance
NEAR ranks among the top 20 blockchain ecosystems by market cap ($5.8B) and pioneered chain abstraction - a critical innovation for unifying fragmented blockchain ecosystems. Its partnerships with Aurora, Flux, and Mintbase demonstrate its role as foundational infrastructure for DeFi, NFTs, and AI-driven dApps.

Technology

Stack & Innovations

• Sharding Architecture: Uses Nightshade dynamic sharding to split network into parallel chains, achieving 100K+ TPS scalability
• AI-Native Runtime: Allows autonomous AI agents to execute complex transactions across chains
• Rust/JavaScript SDK: Enables smart contract development in familiar web languages
• Gas Fee Abstraction: Protocol-level subsidy system for frictionless user onboarding

Technical Approach
NEAR separates blockchain operations into two layers:

1. Consensus Layer: Validates transactions via Proof-of-Stake across shards
2. Execution Layer: Processes smart contracts through WebAssembly (WASM) virtual machine

This architecture solves blockchain's scalability trilemma by maintaining decentralization while offering 1-second finality and $0.01 average transaction fees.

Key Features

1. Chain Abstraction

   • Unified interface for cross-chain interactions (Ethereum, Solana, etc.)
   • Single account manages assets across 70+ networks

2. AI Agent Framework

   • Autonomous agents handle asset management/DeFi strategies
   • Integrated with Ankr's blockchain APIs for real-time data

3. Sharding 2.0

   • Dynamic resharding adjusts network partitions based on demand
   • Near-infinite horizontal scalability

4. JavaScript Native

   • Full-stack development using web-standard tools
   • 10x larger developer pool vs Solidity/Rust chains

5. FastAuth

   • Web2-style login with social/mobile auth
   • Gasless transactions for end-users

6. Data Availability

   • Built-in storage for NFT metadata/dApp state
   • 100MB/s per-shard throughput

7. Governance

   • DAO structure with community-elected council
   • On-chain voting for protocol upgrades

Integration with Eliza

The official elizaos-near-plugin enables:

Technical Synergies

• Autonomous AI agents deploy/manage NEAR smart contracts
• Eliza agents use NEAR Account Aggregation for cross-chain liquidity positions
• NEAR's AI runtime executes Eliza agent strategies at protocol level

Key Use Cases

1. AI-Managed Portfolios: Eliza agents automatically rebalance assets across NEAR-based DeFi protocols
2. Cross-Chain DAOs: NEAR's chain abstraction allows Eliza agents to govern communities spanning multiple networks
3. NFT Marketplaces: AI agents mint/trade NFTs using NEAR's storage-centric contracts

User Benefits

• Eliza users access NEAR's ecosystem without managing wallets/chains
• NEAR developers gain AI agent capabilities through plugin SDK

Recent Developments

2025 Milestones

• Launched NEAR AI Runtime (Q1) - embedded LLMs in smart contracts
• Partnered with Saga to enable ElizaOS agents to spin up NEAR-based Chainlets
• Integrated zkWASM proofs for privacy-preserving AI transactions

2024 Achievements

• Surpassed 8M monthly active accounts
• Deployed Meta Transactions allowing dApps to subsidize user fees

Roadmap

• Q3 2025: Horizontal sharding for AI model training
• Q4 2025: On-chain agent reputation system

Market Position

Competitive Edge

	NEAR	Ethereum	Solana
TPS	100K+	15-45	3,000
Finality	1 sec	6 min	0.4 sec
Avg Fee	$0.01	$1.50	$0.00025

Key Partnerships

• Ankr: Provides multi-chain RPC endpoints for NEAR AI agents
• Saga: Co-developing AI-specific blockchain infrastructure
• Mintbase: Powers 60% of NFT projects on NEAR

Adoption Metrics

• $4.3B TVL in NEAR DeFi ecosystem
• 45% of transactions come from AI-powered agents
• 80% month-over-month growth in AI developer activity

Links

Website | Documentation
GitHub | Twitter
Developer Portal | Blog