Key Takeaways
- NEAR is a Proof-of-Stake Layer-1 blockchain launched in 2020, designed for scalable, user-friendly decentralized apps.
- It uses Doomslug for block production and Nightshade sharding to boost throughput, targeting 100,000+ transactions per second.
- Founded by Illia Polosukhin and Alexander Skidanov, NEAR evolved from AI research into a blockchain platform.
- In 2025, Phase Two sharding and partnerships like NEAR DA enhance its role in Ethereum’s ecosystem.
- As of April 1, 2025, NEAR trades at $4.58, with a $5.5 billion market cap, a top Layer-1 player.
NEAR Protocol hit the scene in April 2020 as a developer-first blockchain, aiming to make dApps easy to build and use. With its mainnet live and token transfers unlocked by October 2020, it’s grown into a $5.5 billion market cap contender by April 1, 2025, trading at $4.58. In 2025, NEAR’s Phase Two sharding rollout launched in May 2024, alongside innovations like NEAR DA for Ethereum rollups from NEARCON ’23, showcasing its scalability push. It’s a Layer-1 blending speed, accessibility, and a vision to rival Ethereum.
What Is NEAR?
NEAR is a decentralized development platform running on a Proof-of-Stake blockchain, built to scale via Nightshade sharding and powered by the Doomslug block generation scheme. It aims to handle high transaction volumes without congestion, targeting 100,000+ TPS once fully sharded. Unlike Ethereum’s current bottlenecks, NEAR’s design prioritizes developer and user ease, with human-readable account names like “alice.near” and tools to onboard non-crypto folks.
Launched in 2020, NEAR supports smart contracts and dApps, hosting ecosystems like DeFi with Burrow and NFTs with Mintbase. For beginners, it’s a fast, cheap chain for trading or staking; for experts, it’s a sharded PoS network with 4-second finality, poised to challenge bigger players with its modular approach.
Who Is Behind NEAR?
Illia Polosukhin and Alexander Skidanov founded NEAR as “NEAR.ai” in 2017, initially exploring AI-driven coding. Both ex-Googlers, Polosukhin from TensorFlow fame and Skidanov a MemSQL vet, they pivoted to blockchain in 2018 after Ethereum’s limits stalled their vision. The NEAR Foundation, established in 2020, drives development, backed by a $21.6 million raise from Andreessen Horowitz and others.
The NEAR Collective, a community of developers and validators, governs via NEAR tokens, with no central profit-taking; staking rewards, 4.5% APR in 2025, go to participants. Partnerships with Polygon for a 2023 ZK prover, Eigen Labs for 2023 fast finality, and Google Cloud for 2024 infrastructure fuel its growth.
How NEAR Works: A Technical Explanation
NEAR operates on a Proof-of-Stake blockchain, utilizing Doomslug as its block production mechanism to achieve 1-second block times and 4-second transaction finality. Validators secure the network by staking a minimum of 35,000 NEAR tokens, receiving rewards that have decreased from 5% to 4.5% APR by 2025. The Nightshade sharding design divides the network into multiple segments, enabling parallel transaction processing. Since the implementation of Phase Two in May 2024, stateless validation allows validators to retrieve state data directly from the network rather than storing it locally, significantly reducing storage demands.
Smart contracts on NEAR are written in WebAssembly, supporting languages like Rust and AssemblyScript, with transaction fees averaging around 0.0001 NEAR, substantially lower than Ethereum’s typical costs. The Rainbow Bridge, launched in March 2021, facilitates interoperability with Ethereum, enabling seamless asset transfers such as USDC between the two networks. The Blockchain Operating System, introduced in March 2023, provides a unified framework for developers to create and browse dApps compatible with multiple blockchains, enhancing cross-chain functionality. NEAR DA, unveiled at NEARCON ’23, utilizes Nightshade’s infrastructure to offer a cost-efficient data availability solution for Ethereum rollups, achieving $100 million in total value locked by 2025.
The network processes approximately 2,500 transactions per second in 2025, with the potential to scale beyond 100,000 TPS as Nightshade sharding expands, based on testing from Stake Wars IV in early 2024. A 2023 partnership with Eigen Labs introduced a fast-finality layer for Ethereum Layer-2s, reducing transaction confirmation times to 3-4 seconds and strengthening NEAR’s role as a supportive infrastructure for rollups. This combination of features makes NEAR an efficient and scalable blockchain suited for both straightforward transactions and complex decentralized applications.
Current Status of NEAR In The Wider Ecosystem
NEAR ranks #18 with a $5.5 billion market cap as of April 2025, a prominent Layer-1 trailing Ethereum and Solana but ahead of newer rivals. It’s a hub for DeFi, gaming, and NFTs, with $750 million TVL, driven by projects like Sweat Economy, boasting 10 million users, and Burrow. Daily activity hits 1 million transactions and 300,000 active addresses, showing strong adoption.
The Blockchain Operating System, launched in 2023, bridges Web3, while NEAR DA, from NEARCON ’23, aids Ethereum rollups with $100 million TVL by 2025. NEAR’s 2,500 TPS lags Solana’s 65,000, but Nightshade sharding narrows the gap. Partnerships with Nym, Polygon, and Eigen Labs boost its tech edge, supporting 500+ dApps.
NEAR’s $750 million TVL, smaller than Ethereum’s $50 billion, reflects efficiency. Swiss regulatory clarity aids stability, though stricter markets pose challenges. It’s a developer favorite with growing Web3 influence.
NEAR’s Price Journey
NEAR launched at $1.50 in October 2020, peaking at $20 in January 2022 amid DeFi hype. The 2022 crash dropped it to $1.20, but sharding and ecosystem wins lifted it to $4.58 by April 1, 2025, down 1% in 24 hours, with a $5.5 billion cap. Its 1.2 billion circulating supply, with no cap, ties price to adoption, not scarcity.
Current Data & Interesting Statistics About NEAR
- Circulating supply is 1.2 billion NEAR, no cap.
- Market cap is $5.5 billion, #18 overall as of April 1, 2025.
- 24-hour volume is $220 million, down 1% from yesterday.
- All-time high was $20 in January 2022, 77% below that now.
- $750 million TVL, 1 million daily transactions.
- 4.5% staking APR, 2,500 TPS in 2025.
- 300,000 active addresses.
What Is The Future of NEAR?
NEAR targets 100,000+ TPS with Nightshade’s full rollout by 2026. Forecasts suggest NEAR at $7-$12 by 2027 if dApps scale, with CryptoNews eyeing $6 in 2025. The $500 billion Layer-1 market in 2025 favors NEAR’s speed and usability. BOS expansion and Ethereum rollup support via NEAR DA could drive it. Competition and adoption hurdles loom, but it’s developer focus might cement it as a top chain.
NEAR’s Scalable Vision
NEAR blends developer ease with blockchain muscle, hitting a $5.5 billion cap by 2025. From AI roots to a sharded PoS titan, it’s clocked 1 million daily trades with Nightshade and Doomslug. Beginners get a simple dApp ramp; experts see a 100,000+ TPS future. Price reflects growth, but $750 million TVL and rollup wins steal the show. As sharding and partnerships like Eigen Labs evolve, NEAR’s user-first ethos keeps it climbing, a Layer-1 built for tomorrow.
Michael Crag
