All Share (J203) = 87 916
Rand / Dollar = 18.17
Rand / Pound = 23.51
Rand / Euro = 19.84
Gold (usd/oz) = 2 983.40
Platinum (usd/oz) = 1 008.60
Brent (usd/barrel) = 70.58
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NEAR Protocol (NEAR) Reviewed

NEAR Protocol Review
NEAR is an open-source and programmable blockchain that is a distributed computing system which is based on the Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism.

 

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Choose your quick section of our NEAR review below.

 

 

 

A Quick Overview of our NEAR Review:

NEAR invites anyone, even non-blockchain developers to build, deploy, and manage DApps on the network and it also provides users with a smooth, seamless experience regardless of whether they are familiar with cryptocurrencies.

 

What is NEAR Protocol?

 

NEAR is an open-source and programmable blockchain that is a distributed computing system which is based on the Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. NEAR allows developers, and anyone else, to build and deploy decentralised applications (DApps).

 

Key Features and Takeaways of NEAR Protocol

 

The NEAR protocol is also known as the “Ethereum Killer” as result of the advanced technologies that it employs, allowing for the development of smart contracts and DApps from its blockchain. NEAR has the following key features and takeaways:

NEAR claims to be secure enough, and capable, of powering mass adoption of blockchain applications which are designed and built for cryptocurrencies, identity systems, games, and any other applications and programmes that developers can come to think of.

NEAR invites anyone, even non-blockchain developers to build, deploy, and manage DApps on the network and it also provides users with a smooth, seamless experience regardless of whether they are familiar with cryptocurrencies.

The NEAR project was built using a consensus mechanism called “Nightshade”. NEAR also uses sharding technology to ensure that there is infinite scalability, even though this is in theory, and this makes the mass use and adoption of DApps possible.

The NEAR protocol maintains an open-source codebase that allows the contribution of any developer.

Sharding technology used by NEAR splits the network into multiple fragments, or shards, which enables the parallel processing of transactions. This means that transactions are batched, and they are executed on different shards at the same time.

Every shard in the NEAR network is technically considered a separate blockchain which maintains its own resources along with a set of validators who verify transactions and produce blocks. Even separate, the shards interact with and communicate with the main NEAR blockchain and other shards, or blockchains.

When compared to first-generation blockchains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, NEAR protocol is faster, scalable, and more efficient.

NEAR also has another vital component namely the Doomslug. This component makes it possible for validator nodes on the network to take turns in generating blocks. This process occurs with every epoch, thus every 12 hours, with blocks being generated every second.

Another feature is the ETH to NEAR Rainbow Bridge, which make NEAR interoperable with Ethereum.

The development team behind NEAR consists of several ex-MemSQL engineers, former Google, Facebook, and Niantic engineers, providing a significant amount of credibility behind the project.

In addition to having a strong development team, NEAR also has the support of more than 40 investors including Pantera Capital, Libertus, Blockchange, Notation Capital, and others.

 

 

NEAR Protocol Mining

 

NEAR tokens cannot be mined as result of the consensus mechanism that NEAR uses, namely the Proof of Stake (PoS). This mechanism ensures that transactions are validated in the correct manner, making it difficult and expensive for adversaries to attack the network or to validate false information.

Validators on NEAR must stake a predefined number of NEAR tokens to be able to produce and verify blocks. In return, these validators are rewarded with block rewards that stem from token supply inflation, transaction fees, and storage fees.

NEAR has three types of validators namely chunk producers, block producers, and fishermans.

Chunk producers collect transactions, and they pass the blocks to the shards.

Block producers produce new blocks which are collected from the current blocks.

Fishermans check the accuracy associated with state transitions in different blocks.

 

Users who want to become validators must stake NEAR tokens. The exact amount needed will depend on the number of tokens being staked by other validators within a specific shard. This will also determine the cut of block reward which is paid out at every epoch, or 12 hours.

Every shard on NEAR consists of 100 seats and the user must have at least 1 seat before they can become a validator. The cost of every seat will depend on the total number of NEAR being staked. If validators misbehave, they risk losing a part of their stake, also known as “slashing”, and validators and delegators have the option to unstake at any given time.

This special design incentivises validator nodes to secure newer, or smaller, shards where barriers to entry is much lower. If a user does not have the capital to buy enough NEAR tokens to secure a seat in a shard, they can convince delegators to delegate their tokens to the user.

Delegators make use of staking pools to do this, resulting in them getting a portion of block rewards from validators on which they are staking.

 

Pros and Cons

✔️Pros❌Cons
NEAR allows developers and other users to build, deploy, and manage DApps seamlesslyNEAR stands in direct competition with giants such as Ethereum
NEAR uses advanced sharding technology that makes scalability infinite, in theoryThere is a lot of competition in the crypto space with new and rising technologies
NEAR is open-source and completely decentralised
There is progressive security and users do not need keys or browser extensions to register or access applications
Smart contracts are compatible with the WebAssembly Virtual Machine (WASM)
The protocol supports the ability to receive a percentage of fees for transactions which pass through the smart contracts of the application
Gas fees are lower than that of Ethereum

 

Transaction Fees

Type of FeeInformation
Trading FeesFrom 0.08% to 0.2%
Withdrawal Fees0.1 NEAR

 

Should you buy NEAR Protocol?

 

NEAR protocol is known as the “Ethereum Killer” as result of the technology that it employs which may put it ahead of the second largest cryptocurrency and project in the world. The Nightshade technology that NEAR employs uses shard technology that enables it to scale infinitely, at least in theory.

If the development team behind NEAR can make this a reality, it will boost NEAR pushing it closer to becoming one of the largest protocols and networks in the Crypto space. The team behind NEAR must ensure that the project markets itself sufficiently to ensure that there is widespread adoption over well-established competition.

 

 

How to buy NEAR Protocol (NEAR)

 

Step 1 – Register an account with Gate.io

Navigate to the official Gate.io website and select the option to “Sign Up” from the homepage.

Complete the online registration form by providing country/region, a selected username, email address, and user-selected password. Read and accept the User Agreement and Privacy and select “Next”.

Create a fund password and select “Create Account”. Complete the “I am not a robot” reCAPTCHA. Check your email inbox for the activation email and click on the link in the email. If the link does not work, you can copy and paste the URL into your browser.

Log into your account using your credentials and complete the reCAPTCHA.

Check your email again for the verification email that contains the 6-digit code and click on “Confirm”. Enter the code that you received into the blocks provided and select “Log In” to proceed.

Before you can use the platform to purchase NEAR Protocol/NEAR and other cryptocurrencies on Gate.io, you must complete the “Know Your Client” or KYC procedure to verify your identity and your proof of residence.

Click on “KYC Now” at the bottom of the webpage to start the process.

Select whether you are an individual or an organisation by selecting “Verify Now” under the relevant option.

Select your country from the dropdown list, enter your full name followed by confirmation thereof. Select your ID document type and provide your ID Number as shown on your official ID Document.

Click on the first image to upload a clear photo of the front of your ID document followed by a clear photo of the back of the document.

Next, write your Gate.io unique ID on a piece of paper and take a photo of yourself holding up your identity document (front) and the paper containing your unique ID.

Once you have done this, click on “Confirm and Submit”.

Next, you must enable the Timed One-Time Password (TOTP) to be able to log into your account. This can be done by clicking on “Set Now” at the bottom of the page.

On the new page that loads, select “Click here” to set up Two-factor Authentication.

Download Google Authenticator onto your mobile device by making use of any of the abovementioned methods.

Follow the steps indicated to add your Gate.io account by scanning the QR code or entering your unique key.

Enter the TOTP, your fund password, and the code sent to your email address and select “Enable Two-factor Authentication”. With this setup, you must use the Google Authenticator app to sign into your account every time.

 

Step 2 – Deposit funds

You must note that Gate.io is only a crypto-to-crypto exchange which means there is no fiat gateway. The only way through which funds can be added, is to transfer an existing crypto into your Gate.io wallet.

NEAR can only be bought through Tether/USDT or Bitcoin/BTC while it can be traded with USD as a futures contract.

Navigate to the deposit/withdrawal section by hovering over your account and selecting the relevant option. Choose from the list of coins in which you can make a deposit and select “deposit” next to the appropriate coin.

You will be redirected to a page which generates a deposit address for the coin that you wish to deposit.

Copy this address, or scan the QR code, into the wallet where you are making a withdrawal from and depositing to Gate.io and wait for the relevant blockchain to confirm your transaction. Once the transaction has been completed and verified by the nodes on the chain, the coins will be sent to the Gate.io wallet and you can start trading NEAR.

 

Step 3 – Explore your trading options

Gate.io offers a variety of ways through which cryptocurrencies can be obtained. Each of these can be explored individually depending on your trading needs and objectives.

To start trading NEAR, select the option from the “Trade” Menu. Enter “NEAR” into the search bar to see which trading options are available.

For spot trading, for instance and as an example, select NEAR_USDT. Once you have selected, you will be directed to the exchange page which corresponds to the cryptocurrency pair NEAR/USDT.

Here, you will see that you have the option to buy or sell NEAR either as a limit order, grid trading, or as a time condition. The most common trading method is that of limit trading and thus it will be used for this guide.

 

Step 3 – Buy NEAR through via Limit Order

To buy NEAR and create a limit order for it, you can enter the amount of NEAR you want to purchase, and the price you want to buy it at in USDT. This tool will tell you what the overall cost is in USDT, or any other chosen counter-currency, which will be deducted from your wallet once the order has been executed.

 

Step 4 – Sell NEAR through via Limit Order

To sell NEAR, find the panel under the chart and create a limit order for USDT according to your own preferences. Note that with a peg to USD, NEAR that you exchange for USDT will hold the flat value that it has despite market conditions in the cryptocurrency market.

 

Step 5 – Withdraw funds

To withdraw funds, you will use the same page in Gate.io which was used to make a deposit.

Click on the deposit/withdrawal option on your Account dropdown and find the wallet of the currency that you wish to withdraw. You can do this easily by using the search bar provided.

Instead of a deposit address being generated, you will do this on the exchange, or the wallet being used as the destination for withdrawal of funds from Gate.io. Paste the address of the receiving wallet in the field provided and provide your Gate.io fund password, email code, and TOTP before selecting “Submit Request”.

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Frequently Asked Questions

 

 

When was NEAR Protocol first launched?

NEAR Protocol was launched in 2018.

 

Who founded NEAR Protocol?

Alex Skidanov and Illia Polosukhin founded the NEAR Protocol.

 

What is “ICO”?

It is Initial Coin Offering that, unlike an IPO, does not mean that those who invest in the cryptocurrency will have an ownership stake of the company that they provide funds to.

 

When was NEAR Protocol’s ICO and how much did it raise?

NEAR did not have an ICO but received 168 million ZAR in funding from investors.

 

Is NEAR Protocol legit?

Yes, NEAR is legit.

 

What is NEAR Protocol’s total supply?

There is a total supply of 1 billion NEAR.

 

What is the purpose of NEAR Protocol?

To build the fastest path to market for blockchain developers, allowing them to create their own scalable and sustainable DApps.

 

On which blockchain is NEAR Protocol based?

NEAR is based on its own blockchain.

 

Does NEAR Protocol work with smart contracts?

Yes, smart contracts are compatible with the WebAssembly Virtual Machine.

 

Does NEAR Protocol have potential to become more valuable?

Yes, NEAR has the potential to become more valuable.

 

4.7/5 - (23 votes)

Written by:

Louis Schoeman

Edited by:

Skerdian Meta

Fact checked by:

Arslan Butt

Updated:

November 11, 2021

Written by:

Louis Schoeman

Featured SA Shares Writer and Forex Analyst.

I am an expert in brokerage safety, adept at spotting scam brokers in mere seconds. My guidance, rooted in my firsthand experience with brokers and an in-depth understanding of the regulatory framework, has safeguarded hundreds of users from fraudulent brokerage activities.

Edited by:

Skerdian Meta

Leading Analyst

Skerdian Meta FXL’s Heading Analyst is a professional Forex trader and market analyst and has been actively engaged in market analysis for the past 10 years. Before becoming our leading analyst, Skerdian served as a trader and market analyst at Saxo Bank’s local branch, Aksioner, the forex division and traded small investor’s funds for two years.

Fact checked by:

Arslan Butt

Commodities & Indices Analyst

Arslan Butt, a financial expert with an MBA in Behavioral Finance, leads commodities and indices analysis. His experience as a senior analyst and market knowledge (including day trading) fuel his insightful work on cryptocurrency and forex markets, published in respected outlets like ForexCrunch.

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