How to Buy NEAR Protocol (NEAR)
Beginner’s Guide
What Is NEAR Protocol (NEAR)?
NEAR Protocol is a layer-one blockchain that was designed as a community-run cloud computing platform and that eliminates some of the limitations that have been bogging competing blockchains, such as low transaction speeds, low throughput and poor interoperability. This provides the ideal environment for DApps and creates a developer and user-friendly platform. For instance, NEAR uses human-readable account names, unlike the cryptographic wallet addresses common to Ethereum. NEAR also introduces unique solutions to scaling problems and has its own consensus mechanism called “Doomslug.”
NEAR Protocol is being built by the NEAR Collective, its community that is updating the initial code and releasing updates to the ecosystem. Its declared goal is to build a platform that is “secure enough to manage high value assets like money or identity and performant enough to make them useful for everyday people.”
Flux, a protocol that allows developers to create markets based on assets, commodities, real-world events, and Mintbase, an NFT minting platform are examples of projects being built on NEAR Protocol.
How to Buy NEAR Protocol Summary
- Get a NEAR Protocol wallet (e.g. Ledger, Trezor ,Guardia, Exodus , AtomicWallet)
- Find an exchange that sells NEAR Protocol (e.g. Binance, Coinbase, Kucoin, Bitfinex , ByBit)
- Deposit money and make the trade
- Withdraw the NEAR Protocol to your wallet
Buying NEAR Protocol (NEAR) in 3 Simple Steps
Step 1 – Get a NEAR wallet
NEAR Protocol Hardware Wallets
NEAR Protocol has several hardware wallets available for users to store their NEAR tokens securely. Here are some of the popular options:
Ledger Nano S/X: Ledger is a well-known hardware wallet provider that supports NEAR Protocol. Users can store their NEAR tokens securely on the Ledger Nano S or X device, which includes features such as PIN code protection, seed phrase backup, and two-factor authentication.
Trezor Model T: Trezor is another popular hardware wallet provider that supports NEAR. Users can store their NEAR tokens securely on the Trezor Model T device, which includes features such as PIN code protection, seed phrase backup, and passphrase protection.
SafePal: SafePal is a hardware wallet that supports several blockchain networks, including NEAR. Users can store their NEAR tokens securely on the SafePal device, which includes features such as biometric authentication, seed phrase backup, and multi-layered security.
BitBox02: BitBox is a hardware wallet provider that supports NEAR. Users can store their NEAR tokens securely on the BitBox02 device, which includes features such as PIN code protection, seed phrase backup, and two-factor authentication.
KeepKey: KeepKey is a hardware wallet that supports NEAR. Users can store their NEAR tokens securely on the KeepKey device, which includes features such as PIN code protection, seed phrase backup, and passphrase protection.
It is important to note that hardware wallets offer an extra layer of security compared to software wallets, as they store the private keys offline. However, users should still research and evaluate the security features and reputation of the hardware wallet provider to ensure the safety of their funds.
The best option for storing any cryptocurrency would be to use a hardware wallet. These are pieces of hardware that store the private key to your coins offline.
Today, there are two leading hardware manufacturers to choose from – Ledger and TREZOR. Both companies have different models of hardware wallets that will get the job done.
If you want deeper insights on specific models, you can read my Ledger Nano X review or my TREZOR Model T review.
NEAR Protocol Software Wallets
NEAR Protocol has several software wallets available for users to store, manage, and transfer their NEAR tokens. Here are some of the popular options:
NEAR Wallet: This is the official web wallet for NEAR Protocol. Users can create an account, import an existing account, or connect with a hardware wallet. The wallet supports NEAR tokens and any NEP-141 token on the NEAR network.
Math Wallet: Math Wallet is a multi-chain wallet that supports several blockchain networks, including NEAR. Users can manage their NEAR tokens, stake NEAR, and interact with NEAR-based decentralized applications (dApps) directly from the wallet.
TokenPocket: TokenPocket is a mobile wallet that supports NEAR and many other blockchain networks. Users can store, manage, and transfer NEAR tokens and access NEAR-based dApps.
Ledger: Ledger is a hardware wallet that supports NEAR. Users can store their NEAR tokens securely on the hardware device and interact with NEAR-based dApps using the Ledger Live app.
MyEtherWallet (MEW): MEW is a popular Ethereum wallet that also supports NEAR. Users can connect to the NEAR network via MEW and manage their NEAR tokens.
It is important to note that when selecting a wallet, users should research and evaluate the security features and reputation of the wallet provider to ensure the safety of their funds.
Hardware wallets cost money, so if you’re not sure how serious you are about cryptocurrencies and just want to get a taste of what they feel like, perhaps you would be better off starting with a software wallet.
A software wallet is a free program that lets you store your coins on your computer or mobile phone.
The easiest Oasis Network software wallets to get started with are undoubtedly Exodus, AtomicWallet and Guarda . All wallets are very intuitive. Exodus, Atomic Wallet and Guarda is available on desktop for Windows, Mac and Linux, as well as on mobile for both iOS and Android. If you want more information you can read my Exodus, AtomicWallet and Guarda review.
Step 2 – Find an NEAR Protocol (NEAR) Exchange
Buy NEAR Protocol through Binance
- Binance is a cryptocurrency exchange which is the largest exchange in the world in terms of daily trading volume of cryptocurrencies. It was founded in 2017 and is registered in the Cayman Islands. Binance was founded by Changpeng Zhao, a developer who had previously created high frequency trading software.
Buy NEAR Protocol through Coinbase
- Coinbase is a convenient and cheap way to buy Ethereum and the platform is open to 100+ countries). Coinbase will sell you LTC for a variable fee that depends on your payment method (credit cards have a higher fee than wire transfers), order size and market volatility. Here’s how you buy Ethereum on Coinbase: Open a Coinbase account Add your payment method (Credit card or bank account) Go to “Buy/Sell” and select the amount of Ethereum you desire Click “Buy Litecoin”
Buy NEAR Protocol through Kucoin
- Kucoin is a global cryptocurrency exchange for numerous digital assets and cryptocurrencies. Launched in September 2017, KuCoin has grown into one of the most popular crypto exchanges and already has over 8 million registered users from 700+ countries and regions. According to Alexa traffic ranking, KuCoin’s monthly unique ranking is in the top 5 globally. Known as the “People’s Exchange”, KuCoin operates in Seychelles, providing users with multi-language and 24/7 customer service. Meanwhile, KuCoin has established local communities all over the world in South Korea, Japan, Spain, Italy, Vietnam, Turkey, Russia, India, and other regions, providing users with the most local services. Currently, 1 out of every 4 crypto holders in the world is with KuCoin.
Buy NEAR Protocol through Bitfinex
- Bitfinex is a cryptocurrency exchange owned and operated by iFinex Inc registered in the British Virgin Islands.Their customers’ money has been stolen or lost in several incidents, and they have been unable to secure normal banking relationships.Bitfinex was founded in December 2012 as a peer-to-peer Bitcoin exchange, offering digital asset trading services to users around the world. Bitfinex initially started as a P2P margin lending platform for Bitcoin and later added support for more cryptocurrencies.
Buy NEAR Protocol through Bybit
- The exchange prides itself on delivering multilingual online support to its customers and is committed to providing a transparent and efficient trading experience. The products on the platform include BTC/USD, ETH/USD, LTC/USD, and XRP/USD perpetual contracts. A perpetual contract resembles a traditional futures contract in many ways. Its main difference, however, is that it doesn’t have an expiry date. Hence, traders are allowed to hold their positions for as long as they need to.Moreover, the exchange boasts a 100,000 TPS state-of-the-art matching engine. While many of its competitors have suffered from repeated overload problems, this high-performance matching engine makes it possible for Bybit to stand above the competition.The Bybit cryptocurrency broker platform is operated by the Bybit Fintech Limited which is registered on the British Virgin Islands, with headquarters in Singapore. The company was launched in March 2018, making it a fairly young player on the market.
Step 3 – Withdraw Your NEAR Protocol (NEAR)
Once you decide on an exchange, open an account and buy your NEAR Protocol. Make sure to withdraw the NEAR Protocol from the exchange to your personal wallet.
Never leave coins on an exchange, as you risk losing them all if that exchange gets hacked or shuts down (which has happened in the past).
OVERVIEW
Who Are the Founders of NEAR Protocol (NEAR)?
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) was founded by a team of experienced entrepreneurs, developers, and investors who have backgrounds in blockchain technology, software development, and finance. Here are the three co-founders of NEAR Protocol:
Alexander Skidanov: Alexander Skidanov is the CEO and co-founder of NEAR Protocol. He has a background in computer science and has been involved in the blockchain industry since 2017. Prior to founding NEAR Protocol, Skidanov worked as a software engineer at MemSQL, a distributed database company.
Illia Polosukhin: Illia Polosukhin is the CTO and co-founder of NEAR Protocol. He is a computer science researcher with expertise in programming languages and compilers. Prior to co-founding NEAR Protocol, Polosukhin worked at Google as a software engineer and researcher.
Erik Trautman: Erik Trautman is the President and co-founder of NEAR Protocol. He has a background in finance and previously worked as a private equity investor before transitioning to the blockchain industry. Trautman is also the founder of Viking Education, a coding bootcamp for students.
Together, the NEAR Protocol co-founders bring a diverse range of skills and experience to the project, which has helped to shape the vision and direction of the platform.
What Makes NEAR Protocol (NEAR) Unique?
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) is a blockchain platform that aims to address some of the scalability and usability issues that have been identified in other blockchain networks. Here are some of the key features that make NEAR Protocol unique:
Sharding: NEAR Protocol is built with sharding in mind, which means that the network can be split into smaller partitions, or shards, to increase its capacity to process transactions. This enables NEAR Protocol to handle higher transaction throughput compared to other blockchain networks.
Proof of Stake: NEAR Protocol uses a Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, which is a more energy-efficient and secure way of validating transactions compared to the Proof of Work (PoW) mechanism used by some other blockchains, such as Bitcoin.
Developer-Friendly: NEAR Protocol is designed to be developer-friendly, with a focus on making it easy for developers to build and deploy decentralized applications (dApps) on the network. NEAR Protocol supports several programming languages, including Rust, AssemblyScript, and TypeScript, and has a user-friendly interface for deploying smart contracts.
User-Friendly: NEAR Protocol aims to provide a user-friendly experience for end-users by reducing the complexity of interacting with decentralized applications. The NEAR Wallet, for example, is a web-based wallet that allows users to easily manage their NEAR tokens and interact with dApps on the NEAR network.
Economic Model: NEAR Protocol has a unique economic model that rewards users who stake their tokens and participate in the network. Users who hold NEAR tokens can participate in governance decisions and earn rewards for helping to secure the network through staking.
Overall, NEAR Protocol’s focus on scalability, usability, and developer-friendliness, combined with its unique economic model and Proof of Stake consensus mechanism, sets it apart from other blockchain networks.
Near Protocol Ecosystem Fund
On Oct. 25, 2021, NEAR announced a $800 million in ecosystem funding initiatives, following in the footsteps of various Layer-1s blockchains like Avalanche, Fantom and Celo. The fund will be used to bankroll initiatives that will focus on accelerating growth in the NEAR protocol ecosystem. The fund includes $350 million in funding from Proximity Labs. Out of the total fund, $250 million will be used to help existing projects scale, and $100 million will be allocated to the Startup Grant Pools, where 20 startups will be given $5M each. NEAR will focus on funding Decentralized Finance (DeFi) focused teams that are “actively revolutionizing and reimagining the way we interact with money.” NEAR is also actively looking for projects building on NFTs, DAOs and gaming. On a separate note, NEAR recently raised $150 million in seed investment led by Three Arrows Capital, with additional participation from Mechanism Capital, Dragonfly Capital, a16z, Jump, Alameda, Zee Prime and more. This will be used to accelerate the adoption of Web3 technologies.
NEAR Protocol for Developers
NEAR protocol’s vision of making blockchain technology accessible to all keeps driving the development efforts of NEAR Collective and the community.
In August 2022, The NEAR team announced the release of a JavaScript software development kit (JS SDK). The NEAR JS SDK is expected to open the door for more than 20 million programmers who use the JavaScript programming language in Web2 to enter the blockchain and Web3 space.
According to the NEAR team, this alone is ten times more than the global population of around 2.5 million programmers that use the most popular blockchain programming languages, Rust and Solidity. The NEAR JS SDK will leverage JavaScript’s ease of use and simplicity in developing smart contracts.
“Developers can spend less time learning a new language and more time building their application in a language they already know. Millions of developers already know how to program in JavaScript; enabling this group to build novel applications on NEAR is a critical step in achieving our vision of a billion users interacting with NEAR.” Illia Polosukhin, a co-founder of NEAR, said in a statement.
The SDK, which is developed by Pagoda, the engineering team that builds and maintains NEAR Protocol and some of the most important tools needed for decentralized application (dApp) development, is implemented in TypeScript and comes out of the box with everything a developer needs to “dive right into blockchain development.”
NEAR Protocol Ecosystem Expansion
With a focus on ease of use in deploying projects and user experience, the NEAR protocol has been growing rapidly. The network has recently seen the public beta launch of its non-custodial mobile wallet app, Sender.
The android APK of the wallet, which is already connected to over 20 leading projects in the NEAR ecosystem and has over 300k downloads of its web extension, can now be downloaded from Sender Labs’ website. Sender Labs received seed funding from Binance Labs and Metaweb Ventures last year and closed a private funding round this year.
Since the mainnet launch of the network in 2020, NEAR protocol has seen the launch of nine dApps with a TVL of around $285 million, at the time of writing.
NEAR Protocol’s Security
Rainbow, a NEAR-Ethereum bridge, has successfully thwarted two attacks with the second hack attempt resulting in the hacker losing 2.5 ETH.
In September 2022, NEAR protocol also announced that it had successfully mitigated two vulnerabilities on Aurora, its Ethereum sidechain, through its bug bounty program.
The dynamically sharded Proof-of-Stake carbon-neutral blockchain team, built for usability and scalability, remains confident that by combining the power of both PoS and sharding, it can become one of the most scalable, secure and sustainable blockchain networks in the crypto space.
How Many NEAR Protocol (NEAR) Coins Are There in Circulation?
The total supply of NEAR is 1 billion tokens, according to the following token distribution:
- 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 launched its mainnet on April 22, 2020 with 1 billion NEAR tokens created at genesis. 5% of additional supply is issued each year to support the network as epoch rewards, of which 90% goes to validators (4.5% total) and 10% to the protocol treasury (0.5% total). 30% of transaction fees are paid out as rebates to contracts that interact with a transaction, while the remaining 70% are burned. The NEAR token is used for:
- Fees for processing transactions and storing data.
- Running validator nodes on the network via staking NEAR tokens.
- Used for governance votes to determine how network resources are allocated.
How Is the NEAR Protocol Network Secured?
The NEAR Protocol network is secured through a combination of several mechanisms, including a Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus algorithm, a validator network, and a flexible economic model. Here’s an overview of how each of these mechanisms contributes to the security of the NEAR Protocol network:
Proof of Stake (PoS): NEAR Protocol uses a PoS consensus algorithm, which is a more energy-efficient and secure way of validating transactions compared to Proof of Work (PoW). In a PoS system, validators are chosen based on the number of tokens they have staked, and they are incentivized to act honestly by earning rewards for validating transactions and blocks.
Validator Network: The NEAR Protocol network is secured by a validator network composed of nodes that are responsible for validating transactions and creating new blocks. Validators are chosen based on their stake and reputation, and they are incentivized to act honestly by earning rewards for their work. The NEAR Protocol network is designed to be resilient to attacks and failures by allowing for a large number of validators and implementing a slashing mechanism to penalize malicious actors.
Flexible Economic Model: NEAR Protocol has a flexible economic model that allows for changes to be made to the network’s economics as needed. For example, if the network experiences a shortage of validators or a decrease in the token price, the protocol can adjust the incentives and rewards to encourage more participation in the network.
Security Audits: NEAR Protocol has undergone multiple security audits by third-party auditors to ensure that the network is secure and resilient to attacks. These audits have helped to identify and address potential vulnerabilities in the protocol.
Overall, the combination of a PoS consensus algorithm, a validator network, a flexible economic model, and security audits helps to ensure that the NEAR Protocol network is secure and resilient to attacks.