Near Protocol ⋈ is the most hyped Layer 1 right now
Can it become the next Ethereum, or are Venture Capitalists using you as Exit Liquidity? Here are thoughts and analysis on Near’s potential:
- What makes NEAR different
- The Protocols You Need to Know on Near
- Headwinds / Tailwinds
- Thoughts on Near’s Potential Let’s dive in
What Makes Near Different?
Near is ANOTHER Layer 1 that promises to be faster, cheaper, and more secure than Ethereum. Alright, we’ve heard this story too many times before. So what makes Near Protocol different, and why is it getting so much attention now?
Scaling Through Dynamic Sharding
Near scales through sharding. Does it sound familiar — Ethereum wants to implement it in 2023. Near already has it. Sharding partitions data into several pieces. They can then process the data in parallel with each other.
Dynamic means it can adjust the size of the shards based on demand, which will keep fees low. Near has the potential to scale without limits due to its sharding technology. We could see Near with a 100,000+ TPS — Enough to surpass Visa for real-world usage.
Other Interesting Technology: 1. Private shards: Entreprises (such as a hospital) can create private shards to keep data more secure. 2. Doom Slug: Achieves finality within seconds.
Stacked Development Team
@Alexskidanov - Former developer MSFT & director of engineering at MEMSQL.
@ilblackdragon - Former Engineer at GOOG. Team members have won international programming competitions. This is one of the most talented teams in Crypto.
Massive War Chests
- Over $533m in funding from almost every A-list Venture Capital.
- $800m Development Ecosystem Fund
Money matters.
They have the firepower to attract developers to their ecosystem. Funds -> Developers -> Awesome Dapps -> Increase network usage.
“We focus more on developers than investors” — Illia
- Write in common languages such as Rust or Assembly
- 30% of transaction fees go to contract owners
They have created massive education resources to help onboard developers to Near.
User Friendliness
They emphasize making this experience easier for normal people onboarding. They provide an easy-to-use wallet that can be name-based (like name.near). And allows email / phone backup. The experience IS an improvement, but not too revolutionary.
Heading Towards the Most “Complete” Blockchain.
- DeFi, GameFi, & NFTs
- EVM via Aurora
- Parachains via Octopus
- Its own Stablecoin soon ($USN)
- Massive funding + ecosystem funds
It’s ambitious and trying to do it all.
Near’s Metrics are Bullish
TVL is increasing and the metrics are showing more adoption. This is strong considering we’re in a bearish environment.
Token Supply
68% Circulation supply. 676 m / 1b max. I’ll cover more of the Token vesting schedule later.
The Most Important Protocols on Near
Near’s ecosystem is still being developed right now. Most of the dapps are on Aurora due to EVM compatibility (easy to copy and paste apps) Here are the protocols you should know about on Near:
Aurora Network
Aurora is an Ethereum Layer 2 built on NEAR
- Developers can fork ETH projects over to Aurora
- It leverages the power of Near (sharding, speed, low costs)
- Transaction costs are < $.02
Aurora already has $1.15b TVL
Rainbow Bridge
- Trustless bridge between Near <-> Ethereum
- Easily bridge your Ethereum tokens over to Near
The bridging process takes around 10 minutes, and they update you in real-time.
Octopus Network
Allows developers to launch app chains. App chains are blockchains used for specific apps — it allows for more customizations compared to traditional dApps. Parachains on Dot are expensive. Potentially millions of dollars.
Octopus fills a gap in the market for more modest app chains.
- Up to 100x cheaper than Polkadot parachains /w the security of NEAR
- Easily deploy substrate-based blockchains
- Interoperability with Near, ETH, IBC, etc.
Keep a close eye on Octopus.
Ref Finance (REF)
The main AMM of Near — this is where the action’s happening on Near. There are some nice farm options here:
- The Ref-wNEAR gives out multiple tokens. So you’re building out a mini index fund of NEAR
- The stablecoin APRs are solid
Ref is working on multi-chain liquidity to Aurora. With so many grants in the Near ecosystem on the way, you can bet the Near foundation will be deploying quite a bit to Ref.
Burrow
The lending and borrowing protocol of NEAR. Think of it like the Aave of NEAR. Over $400m deposited. Burrow could end up being the @anchor_protocol of Near for their $USN stablecoin.
Meta Pool
The liquid staking protocol of Near protocol. Think of it like @LidoFinanceand ETH.
- You stake your near for STNear at Meta.
- Then you take it over to @finance_ref to farm
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