NEAR Protocol is a layer-one blockchain designed as a community-run cloud computing platform. It addresses common limitations found in other blockchains, such as slow transaction speeds, low throughput, and interoperability challenges. This makes NEAR Protocol a suitable environment for decentralized applications (DApps) while prioritizing ease of use for both developers and users. One notable feature is its use of human-readable account names, simplifying interactions compared to traditional cryptographic wallet addresses. Additionally, NEAR introduces innovative scaling solutions and employs a unique consensus mechanism called "Doomslug." The NEAR Collective, a community-driven group, maintains and updates the protocol with the goal of creating a secure and efficient platform capable of managing high-value assets like money and identity while remaining accessible for everyday use. Several projects are already leveraging NEAR Protocol, including Flux, a protocol for creating markets around assets and real-world events, and Mintbase, a platform for minting NFTs. *(Links to external sources have been removed in accordance with the guidelines.)* **NEAR Protocol** was co-founded by **Erik Trautman**, an entrepreneur with a background in Wall Street and the founder of Viking Education. His fellow co-founders include **Illia Polosukhin**, who brings over a decade of industry experience, including a tenure at Google, and **Alexander Skidanov**, a computer scientist with prior roles at Microsoft and memSQL, where he served as Director of Engineering. The NEAR Protocol team comprises skilled developers, including multiple gold medalists and winners of the **International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC)**. According to the team, they have expertise in building large-scale sharded systems—a key focus of the protocol to enhance blockchain scalability. NEAR Protocol leverages its Nightshade technology to significantly enhance transaction throughput. Nightshade is a sharding variation where separate validator groups process transactions in parallel across multiple sharded chains, increasing the blockchain's overall capacity. Unlike traditional sharding, Nightshade shards generate portions of the next block, known as "chunks." This design enables NEAR Protocol to process up to 100,000 transactions per second with near-instant finality due to its one-second block time, while maintaining minimal transaction fees. Additionally, NEAR Protocol simplifies user onboarding compared to other blockchains by offering human-readable addresses and decentralized applications with familiar registration flows. Developers also benefit from modular components, allowing them to launch projects—such as token contracts or NFTs—more efficiently. The total supply of NEAR is 1 billion tokens, distributed as follows: - **17.2%** – Community Grants - **11.4%** – Operation Grants - **10%** – Foundation Endowment - **11.7%** – Early Ecosystem - **14%** – Core Contributors - **17.6%** – Backers - **6.1%** – Small Backers - **12%** – Community Sale NEAR Protocol's mainnet launched with 1 billion NEAR tokens created at genesis. An additional **5%** of the total supply is issued annually as epoch rewards, allocated as: - **90% (4.5% of total supply)** to validators - **10% (0.5% of total supply)** to the protocol treasury Transaction fees follow a specific distribution: - **30%** is rebated to contracts interacting with a transaction - **70%** is burned The NEAR token serves multiple functions, including: - Paying fees for transactions and data storage - Staking to operate validator nodes - Participating in governance votes for network resource allocation NEAR utilizes a modified proof-of-stake consensus mechanism called Doomslug. This system operates through two rounds of consensus, achieving near-instant finality by having validators take turns producing blocks. A block is finalized once it completes the first communication round, eliminating direct competition based on stake. The NEAR Foundation, a Swiss non-profit organization, oversees protocol maintenance, ecosystem funding, and governance. Additionally, the protocol supports interoperability with Ethereum through a bridge, enabling users to transfer ERC-20 tokens between the two blockchains. NEAR is available on Binance, Huobi Global, Mandala Exchange, and OKX. If you're new to cryptocurrency, you can learn more about entering the market and purchasing tokens like NEAR through DroomDroom's educational resources. NEAR announced an $800 million ecosystem funding initiative to support growth within its protocol ecosystem. The funding includes $350 million from Proximity Labs. The allocation breaks down as follows: - $250 million will support scaling existing projects. - $100 million will go toward Startup Grant Pools, distributing $5 million each to 20 selected startups. NEAR is prioritizing projects in Decentralized Finance (DeFi) that aim to transform financial interactions. The ecosystem is also seeking initiatives focused on NFTs, DAOs, and gaming. In addition, NEAR secured $150 million in seed investment led by Three Arrows Capital, with participation from Mechanism Capital, Dragonfly Capital, a16z, Jump, Alameda, and Zee Prime. These funds will help drive the adoption of Web3 technologies. (Note: References to specific dates and external links have been removed to maintain an evergreen format.) The NEAR Protocol aims to make blockchain technology more accessible through ongoing development efforts by NEAR Collective and its community. The NEAR team introduced a JavaScript Software Development Kit (JS SDK) to simplify blockchain development for Web2 programmers familiar with JavaScript. This SDK is designed to lower the barrier to entry for the estimated 20 million JavaScript developers, significantly more than the global population of programmers using blockchain-specific languages like Rust and Solidity. By leveraging JavaScript’s ease of use, the NEAR JS SDK allows developers to build smart contracts without needing to learn a new programming language. Illia Polosukhin, co-founder of NEAR, emphasized the importance of this initiative: *"Developers can spend less time learning a new language and more time building applications in a familiar one. Enabling JavaScript developers to create on NEAR is a key step toward our vision of widespread adoption."* The SDK, developed by Pagoda—the engineering team behind NEAR Protocol—is built in TypeScript and provides developers with essential tools for decentralized application (dApp) development, allowing them to start building on the blockchain quickly. The NEAR protocol prioritizes ease of use for deploying projects and enhancing user experience, contributing to its rapid growth. A key development is the public beta launch of Sender, a non-custodial mobile wallet app. The wallet's Android APK is available for download and integrates with more than 20 major projects in the NEAR ecosystem. Its web extension has surpassed 300,000 downloads. Sender Labs, the team behind the wallet, secured seed funding from Binance Labs and Metaweb Ventures in a previous round, followed by a private funding round later. Since NEAR's mainnet launch in 2020, the ecosystem has expanded with nine decentralized applications (dApps), collectively holding a total value locked (TVL) of approximately $285 million. (Note: Removed time-sensitive phrasing like "recently" and "at the time of writing" to ensure the content remains evergreen.) Rainbow, a NEAR-Ethereum bridge, successfully prevented two attacks, with the second attempt resulting in the hacker losing 2.5 ETH. NEAR Protocol previously announced that it had resolved two vulnerabilities on Aurora, its Ethereum sidechain, through its bug bounty program. The NEAR team, which operates a dynamically sharded, carbon-neutral Proof-of-Stake blockchain, emphasizes its focus on usability and scalability. By leveraging both PoS and sharding, the protocol aims to enhance its security, scalability, and sustainability within the blockchain ecosystem. Here’s a revised version of your text with improved clarity and readability while maintaining the original meaning: --- **Iota (MIOTA)** is a blockchain designed for the Internet of Things. **Ethereum (ETH)** is a widely used blockchain for smart contracts. For a deeper understanding of decentralized autonomous organizations, explore our guide on **how DAOs work**. Stay informed with the latest cryptocurrency updates and trading insights on **DroomDroom**. --- This version removes promotional language, eliminates external links, and keeps the content neutral and factual. Let me know if you'd like any further refinements! **Revolut Crypto Quiz Answers (Learn & Earn Program)** Revolut offers a Learn & Earn program where users can test their cryptocurrency knowledge through quizzes and earn rewards. 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