The selected teams will benefit from a comprehensive support package, including technical guidance, funding opportunities, and access to NEAR and Delphi’s expert networks. Each team will also receive $50,000 in compute credits from Aethir, the accelerator program’s premier compute partner. These credits will ensure that every team has the necessary computational resources to develop and deploy resource-intensive AI models—and focus on building without being constrained by infrastructure limitations.

Beginning October 15 and running through early December, NEAR Foundation and Delphi Labs have selected the following cohort teams:

• Hyperspace: Hyperspace is building a decentralized, peer-to-peer AI network. Their mission is to create a unified platform for AI interactions through a “generative browser” serving as a unified interface for AI-powered web interactions.
  • Selection notes: Hyperspace has demonstrated traction with over 7,000 unique nodes in their P2P network and a robust product suite, most recently launching Play, a generative browser agent.
• Almanak: Almanak is an end-to-end platform to build, test, train, optimize, and deploy agents for DeFi. Their mission is to democratize access to sophisticated financial strategies through the use of AI agents.
  • Selection notes: Almanak’s team has spent the last two years building a platform that uses agent-based simulations to optimize on-chain strategies. Their agents are already managing sizable AUM for institutional partners, demonstrating strong traction and expertise in their domain.
• Questflow: Building a next-generation AI agent economy, Questflow is developing a decentralized network that orchestrates multi-agent AI automation. Users can dispatch incentives to both AI and human workers, creating a collaborative environment for autonomous and human-assisted processes.
  • Selection notes: Questflow aims to dominate the AI agentic workflow market, particularly in SEO. Their gamified reward system and strong focus on winning specific verticals make them a standout candidate for advancing AI automation workflows.
• Q Star Labs: Q Star Labs is developing a decentralized generative AI protocol for creating interactive, autonomous AI influencers at scale. Their Reinforcement Learning-based algorithm, Q STAR, is designed for long-term strategic planning to optimize AI content generation and engagement.
  • Selection notes: The Q Star Labs team has a unique blend of expertise in AI, crypto, and finance, launching AI influencers that have organically grown to over 27,000 followers.
• ZettaBlock: ZettaBlock is laying the groundwork for open and trustless AI development through a decentralized platform that provides developers with the infrastructure needed to unify on-chain and off-chain data. By offering modular, adaptable data solutions, ZettaBlock empowers the AI economy with the tools needed to integrate both historical and real-time data from multiple sources.
  • Selection notes: ZettaBlock’s leadership in both AI and data infrastructure makes them a pivotal player in the future of decentralized AI. They’re already supporting major protocols like EigenLayer and Chainlink. Their vision for a unified AI data platform aligns perfectly with NEAR Foundation and Delphi’s mission to foster open and scalable AI infrastructure that developers can rely on.
• Magic: Magic is redefining how private data is used in AI. Their decentralized platform allows companies and developers to train AI models using private data, all while preserving the integrity and privacy of the underlying information. This is achieved through an innovative stack of privacy protocols and decentralized coordination.
  • Selection notes: Magic is tackling one of the toughest challenges in AI—privacy-preserving data access. Their team, with deep roots at Stanford AI Lab, has developed unique methods to keep data secure while enabling AI innovation at scale. Their ability to unlock private data for developers, without compromising security, makes Magic an essential piece of the decentralized AI puzzle.
• dFusion: dFusion is building a platform to solve one of AI’s biggest hurdles: reliable data quality. They’re focused on creating a consensus-driven framework that curates and validates high-quality data, ensuring that AI models are trained on information that is accurate, corroborated, and trustworthy.
  • Selection notes: dFusion’s commitment to consensus-based knowledge curation sets them apart from other players in the data space. By focusing on data integrity and consensus, they’re creating a unique foundation for AI development—one that ensures reliability and transparency. Their work opens up new opportunities for building AI applications that need trustworthy data, which is critical as decentralized AI continues to evolve.
• Peri Labs: Peri Labs is building an open marketplace leveraging underutilized computational resources across billions of consumer devices to power optimized AI models. The Peri Protocol abstracts the complexity of diverse hardware ecosystems, enabling seamless AI model deployment at scale.
  • Selection notes: Peri Labs differentiates itself with a focus on edge compute, uniquely integrating idle resources from consumer-grade devices to run AI models effectively. Their emphasis on model compression, optimization, and decentralized inference positions them as pioneers in making edge AI truly scalable, providing an efficient, privacy-preserving alternative to centralized cloud solutions.

In addition to the resources above, the NEAR x Delphi AI Accelerator Program includes some more unique opportunities for participants:

• Industry-leading speakers: Participants will hear from founders, investors, and experts from AI and Web3, providing insights into current trends and future opportunities. 

• IRL Founder Retreat: An in-person retreat week in New York City for networking, collaboration, and team-building.
• Closing Demo Day: The program will conclude with a Demo Day in early December, showcasing participating teams to our extensive investor network.

NEAR is a leading blockchain platform designed to accelerate the development of decentralized applications with a focus on usability and scalability. Delphi Labs is a research and development firm that specializes in Web3 and DeFi. 

NEAR and Delphi Labs share the common strategic vision of a user-owned AI ecosystem, built on Web3 rails, that provides genuinely better alternatives to developers and users than the prevailing model of centralized AI controlled by big tech companies and governments. The goal is to maximize the benefits of AI for people and communities—and minimize the potential risks—by putting the power of AI where it belongs: in the hands of users. 

The NEAR ecosystem is quickly becoming the go-to home for decentralized, User-Owned AI, and this new AI Accelerator Program with Delphi Labs is a critical step toward integrating projects with significant potential into that ecosystem, setting the stage for the next generation of AI-powered decentralized apps.

NEAR’s first AI x Web3 incubator cohort, which ran from June to August 2024, saw participants achieve significant early milestones while contributing essential pieces to the growing User-Owned AI stack. These milestones include: Hyperbolic hosting the latest open source AI models, including Llama 3.1 405B; Mizu launching their beta platform and attracting 20K users in the first week; and Pond launching their first GNN model for wallet predictions and achieving a 20% prediction rate. The teams have built on the momentum from the incubator to attract serious seed funding interest, collectively raising $26M, with Hyperbolic successfully closing a $7M round.

Stay tuned for details on the cohort’s Demo Day, which will take place on December 14. Teams with a strong vision for decentralized AI applications and infrastructure are encouraged to apply for the next accelerator program cohort to take place early next year.

The post NEAR Foundation and Delphi Labs Partner to Launch New AI Accelerator appeared first on NEAR Protocol.

You may recall that [REDACTED] is a global convergence to shape the future of User-Owned AI and Chain Abstraction—a future where technology belongs to the people, not corporations. 

It’s an IRL movement gathering November 9-11 in Bangkok. It’s a worldwide hackathon kicking off September 5. It’s a defining moment to unify the collective working on these technologies to reclaim our sovereignty.

Are you in?

The IRL movement: speakers announced, apply to attend

[REDACTED] is a whole IRL movement: 1,500+ devs, builders, founders, funders, researchers, regulators, and more gathering in person, November 9-11, at the Avani+ Riverside Hotel Bangkok.

Some things can only happen IRL, and some are just way better. Like:

• Gaining insights from the teams defining the intersection of AI and Web3
• Upskilling and learning how to develop AI x Web3 products and apps
• Forming deep connections to build the user-owned future together

[REDACTED] will feature a wide range of curated sessions, workshops, and discussions led by the people driving AI x Web3 and Chain Abstraction. We can finally share that this includes:

• Illia Polosukhin (NEAR)
• Curtis Spencer (Electric Capital)
• Anand Iyer (Canonical)
• Maartje Bus (Messari)
• Matt Stephenson (Pantera)
• Calanthia Mei (Masa)
• Evrard-Nil Daillet (Google)

And more to come as we get closer to Bangkok.

Tickets to the [REDACTED] IRL movement are totally free—you just have to apply to attend, either as a participant or as a hacker (about which, see below). Visa letters are available to support visa applications.

For the absolute latest on the movement, join the official [REDACTED] Telegram channel.

[REDACTED] Hackathon Registration Is Live

Registration for the [REDACTED] hackathon is OPEN.

The [REDACTED] hackathon sets top problem-solvers to collaborating on the biggest issues in AI x Web3 and Chain Abstraction. Kicking off September 5, it’s eight weeks remote so teams can go deep, and it culminates at the IRL movement in Bangkok, November 9-11. 

Hackers accepted into the hackathon can expect workshops and tutorials on industry-leading tools, interactive discussion and support from category/ecosystem experts, and, oh yeah, a chance at over $500k+ in bounties and prizes.

There will also be travel scholarships so qualifying hackers can be IRL in Bangkok for the awards ceremony—and to participate in the IRL movement.

Get Involved with [REDACTED]

There are a lot of ways [for partners?] to get involved with [REDACTED], from digital marketing exposure and exclusive access to side events to major visibility at the IRL movement. Find what’s right for you.

The post [REDACTED] Speakers Announced, Hackathon Registration Is Live appeared first on NEAR Protocol.

The spinout of Nuffle Labs reflects not only the strength of the core team and the products they are building, but also illustrates the Foundation’s commitment to decentralization by turning core functions over to proven teams in the ecosystem. As an independent team, Nuffle Labs will be better positioned to operate at the forefront of modular blockchain design, nurture its own decentralized community, and forge more partnerships across the Web3 ecosystem. 

Nuffle Labs will leverage NEAR Protocol’s cost-effective, fast, and proven technology to offer rollups enhanced modularity. It is responsible for two key products in NEAR’s modular suite: NEAR Data Availability (NEAR DA) and NEAR Fast Finality Layer, now Nuffle Fast Finality Layer (NFFL).

Nuffle Labs secures $13M in funding to support their growth

Nuffle Labs’ spinout comes with substantial investment, including a strategic grant from the NEAR Foundation as well as funding from external investors including Electric Capital, Canonical Crypto, Fabric Ventures, Robot Ventures, Caladan, and Lyrik Ventures. Notable angel investors include Jordi Alexander (Selini), Blackdragon VC, Bowen Wang (NEAR), Sreeram Kannan (EigenLayer), Sam Kazemian (Frax), Sandeep Nailwal (Polygon), DeFi Dad (4RC), Dovey Wan (Primitive Ventures), and Mert Mumtaz (Helius). With these resources and supporters, the team is well-equipped to advance NEAR DA and NFFL, expand the team, invest in R&D, and build a strong community that spans across NEAR, Ethereum, and beyond.

“We’re proud to support the growth of Nuffle Labs as an independent company in the NEAR ecosystem. These 4 excellent co-founders have built first-rate modularity products that showcase the best of NEAR’s technology with NEAR DA and NFFL, providing cost-effective and performant solutions to projects across Web3,” said Illia Polosukhin, Co-Founder of NEAR Protocol and CEO of NEAR Foundation. “We look forward to continued collaboration with the NEAR Foundation as they expand and evolve.”

Avichal Garg, General Partner at lead investor Electric Capital, said, “We are excited to back Nuffle Labs, the builders behind NEAR DA and the NEAR Fast Finality Layer (NFFL). As the core team that developed these products from the ground up, Nuffle Labs has the expertise to advance these modular solutions, creating a world where intra- and interchain transactions are cheap, fast, and secure.”

“I have had the great privilege of getting to know the founders of Nuffle and working with them from day zero,” said Anand Iyer, General Partner at Canonical Crypto. “Their passion for solving blockchain scaling combined with their expertise from building solutions at NEAR has me genuinely excited for them and their future.”

Understanding NEAR Data Availability (NEAR DA)

NEAR DA utilizes the sharded architecture of NEAR Protocol to provide a modular data availability layer for Ethereum rollups with extremely high throughput and low cost. On mainnet launch, RSS3 – an open information protocol bridging AI and Web3 – experienced a substantial cost reduction, paying a daily average of $10 compared to their previous $1,000. NEAR DA currently has a throughput of 24MB/s, significantly higher than its closest competitor’s 6.67MB/s – making NEAR DA the most scalable, cheapest, and reliable DA solution on the market.

NEAR DA’s scalability is further enhanced by its ability to support multiple rollups, whether they are optimistic or ZK-rollups. NEAR Data Availability (NEAR DA) provides:

• Cost-efficiency: Storing data on NEAR Protocol is significantly cheaper than on Ethereum, making it easier for projects to build as well as faster.
• Effortless Validation: NEAR Protocol’s trustless off-chain light client simplifies validation, ensuring accurate and reliable transactions.
• User-Friendly Interaction: NEAR Protocol provides easy access to on-chain data through RPC, making blockchain interaction seamless for developers and users.

Exploring NEAR Fast Finality Layer (NFFL)

The name Nuffle Labs is derived from the acronym NFFL. The Nuffle Fast Finality Layer (NFFL) is an EigenLayer Actively Validated Service (AVS) designed to aggregate state across various rollups. By leveraging NEAR DA, NFFL provides a fast, universal, and secure finality layer. It enhances block finality across different protocols and integrates additional public DA layers into the blockchain stack, paving the way for innovative cross-chain applications. NFFL is currently live on testnet––learn more about the protocol.

What’s next for Nuffle Labs?

“We are thrilled about the incredible opportunity to grow and develop NEAR’s modular product offerings at Nuffle Labs,” said Altan Tutar, CEO of Nuffle Labs. The other Nuffle co-founders are Sam Wang, Firat Sertgoz, and Donovan Dall. “We deeply appreciate the support from the NEAR Foundation and are honored by the validation from such distinguished investors. Their confidence in our vision and capabilities energizes us as we continue to innovate and expand.” 

Looking ahead, Nuffle Labs will focus on advancing the development of the NFFL AVS on EigenLayer and further enhancing the robustness and efficiency of NEAR DA to support Ethereum’s rollup-centric future. The team is committed to furthering innovation in modular blockchain design and defragmenting the Web3 ecosystem.

Follow along with the Nuffle team’s progress on their new site here and follow the Nuffle Labs X(Twitter) account. L2 builders interested in a partnership with Nuffle or those interested in applying to work with Nuffle can get in touch via the Nuffle Labs website. 

The post NEAR Modular Spins Out to Become Nuffle Labs with $13M in Funding appeared first on NEAR Protocol.

Established as an equity-free program, HZN3 is designed to deliver mentorship, technical support, and tactical education to empower founders in navigating the complexities and hurdles associated with building a thriving, successful project.

With a focus on crypto-native go-to-market strategies and refinding the tech stack, HZN3 will be a vital resource for founders aiming to scale their projects. It underscores NEAR’s commitment to fostering innovation and supporting the next wave of open web projects, contributing significantly to the ecosystem’s diversity and resilience.

HZN3 is a chain-agnostic program and welcomes builders from any ecosystem. This approach is part of fulfilling NEAR’s vision for a unified, user-friendly open web. Here’s everything you need to know about the HZN3 cohort and how to join.

Empowering Open Web Innovation with HZN3

The HZN3 Accelerator Program, NEAR’s third cohort under the Horizon banner, will be a structured, eight-week journey for open web founders, emphasizing sustainable growth. This equity-free approach aligns with NEAR’s dedication to founders success and autonomy. 

Specifically geared towards early-stage Web3 founders, HZN3 is a launchpad for projects at any development stage, from idea to MVP. The program’s core objectives are to furnish participants with mentorship, one-on-one technical support, and education tailored to the nuances of launching and scaling in the crypto space.

While HZN3 does not provide direct funding, its focus is on providing invaluable resources and a network that far exceeds monetary support. The HZN3 Program runs from May 20th – July 12th, 2024, capped with a Demo Day live at ETH CC in Brussels, Belgium HZN3 will be an intensive, hands-on experience, crafted to sharpen go-to-market strategies and refine technical stacks, ensuring projects are not just visionary but viable and market-ready. 

The application period, spanning from March 18th to May 10th, 2024, invites early-stage founders to step forward with their visions, irrespective of their blockchain foundation, fostering a diversity rich cohort. Selected participants can anticipate a kickoff meeting to outline the road ahead, ensuring founders are prepared for the intensive, growth-oriented journey in HZN3.

Building on Previous HZN Alumni Success

The HZN3 program will take its cue from the achievements of previous HZN alumni projects that have laid the groundwork for the upcoming cohort. The previous 50+ participants from HZN’s programs include Gravvity, Quest, Superchargd, Plato, Shard Dog, and Contented, illustrating HZN’s tangible impact. 

These projects have navigated the initial stages of development and launch, successfully securing significant external capital and collectively raising over $20 million. These funding successes validate the value and trust investors place in HZN-supported initiatives and highlight HZN’s effectiveness in preparing founders for the pitching and funding process.

The accelerator’s focus on mentorship, technical support, and tactical education has also equipped these projects with the necessary tools for scalability and market penetration. Through HZN, founders gain financial backing and receive a comprehensive foundation for sustained growth, network expansion, and strategic positioning moving forward.

HZN’s commitment to fostering innovation and supporting early-stage projects contributes significantly to the diversity and resilience of the NEAR ecosystem, ensuring a vibrant future for open web innovation.

Apply to HZN3 and Join NEAR’s Vision for Chain Abstraction

HZN3 applications are open from March 18th to May 10th, 2024, welcoming visionaries eager to scale their projects. Interested founders can apply directly through HZN’s application page, where they’ll find detailed instructions and requirements. Founders building on any blockchain are encouraged to apply, as HZ3 is a chain-agnostic program.

HZN3 also plays a critical role in NEAR’s broader chain abstraction narrative by attracting diverse, high-quality projects across multiple blockchains. By supporting founders regardless of blockchain or ecosystem, HZN3 will contribute to the broader vision of chain abstraction. This approach is key for driving the adoption of the chain abstraction stack. 

Through HZN3, NEAR reinforces its commitment to an open web that thrives on diversity, collaboration, and shared success.

Seizing Open Web Opportunities with HZN3

As an equity-free, accelerator program, HZN3 is a unique opportunity to bootstrap and jumpstart any project. Founders won’t want to miss out on key resources, network expansion, and strategic development insights they’ll receive during the course of the program.

Potential applicants should apply before May 10th, 2024, to secure a spot in the upcoming HZ3 cohort. For more details, visit HZN’s application page to join the community discussion, connect with peers and mentors, and brainstorm about how your project can be a part of the open web’s future.

The post Summer of Shipping on NEAR Heats up with Horizon’s HZN3 Cohort  appeared first on NEAR Protocol.

Integrating web domains and the existing Domain Name System (DNS) presents a significant opportunity to advance mainstream adoption of the open web. With over 356 million domains currently using the DNS and more than 5.3 billion internet users worldwide, decentralized and interoperable domains could be a game-changer. 

The goal is to catalyze mainstream adoption by extending NEAR’s reach beyond the blockchain community to include the broader Internet infrastructure. The partnership between NEAR and D3 highlights the importance of interoperability in achieving widespread adoption of the open web, offering users and developers enhanced utility and a more expansive definition of identity.

Users will have the ability to use a single domain for various functions, such as a website, email address, or wallet address, and will also serve verified credentials within the NEAR ecosystem.

“We’re excited to work with D3 to secure the .near top-level domain and extend the power of NEAR accounts across the entire internet. As the functionality of NEAR accounts expands with Chain Abstraction, combining Web3 identity with existing internet infrastructure will help drive mainstream adoption,” said Illia Polosukhin, Co-Founder of NEAR Protocol and Chief Executive Officer of the NEAR Foundation.

Merging domains and identity for an accessible open web

D3’s patent-pending technologies enable Web3 digital identities to be interoperable with the Internet, using the DNS as a foundation. Through these interoperable, human-readable digital identities – i.e. alice.near – users can use a single domain as a website, email, or wallet address. This also opens up the potential for cross-platform usernames through verified credentials.

For the NEAR ecosystem, this means broader utility for developers and projects building on the open web, using identities that are interoperable between the traditional Web2 internet and a decentralized open web. As D3 helps expand functionality of NEAR accounts, along with Chain Abstraction, it potentially paves the way for broader mainstream Web3 adoption.

“In order for Web3 to accelerate its growth, it will require interoperability with existing Internet infrastructure,” says Fred Hsu, Chief Executive Officer at D3. “We’re pleased to welcome NEAR on our journey to redefine digital identity, while offering NEAR users and projects alike more utility by bringing the ‘web’ to Web3.” 

Bringing identity innovation to the NEAR ecosystem

The collaboration with D3 to bridge the traditional internet and the open web using domains could lead to a host of innovative use cases on NEAR, from NFTs to SocialFi. Furthermore, D3’s mission of integrating traditional internet and Web3 for utility, security, and universal access dovetails with the NEAR ecosystem’s chain abstraction initiative. Making Web3 experiences feel familiar and smooth, while abstracting the blockchain hurdles away from end users, will improve the usability of decentralized applications for mainstream internet consumers.

The post NEAR Protocol Partners With D3 To Apply For .Near Top-Level Domain appeared first on NEAR Protocol.

• The Enterprise Node Operators program aims to onboard top-tier Institutions and companies into the NEAR Ecosystem.
• Meta Pool, the liquid staking solution built on NEAR, partnered with the NEAR Foundation to provide guidance and oversee the rollout and operation of the program.
• Enterprise Node operators contribute to marketing, community building, and financial support.

Meta Pool proudly introduces the Enterprise Node Operators (ENO) program, marking a significant milestone in institutional engagement for the NEAR Ecosystem. In collaboration with the NEAR Foundation, Meta Pool has curated a strategic initiative that empowers top-tier companies to contribute to the NEAR community’s growth, security, and decentralization. 

The ENO program kicked off successfully in November 2023 with a vision to establish global institutional support and foster relationships with industry leaders. Now with more than fifteen projects onboarded, the Meta Pool team is excited to spread the word and seek to further grow the program. Each participating ENO is committed to advancing the NEAR Ecosystem, focusing on key areas such as marketing, institutional growth, and financial support.

The primary goal of the ENO program is to enhance the NEAR Ecosystem’s institutional network by forging partnerships with enterprise-grade companies. These companies, in turn, facilitate the onboarding of their partners into the NEAR community, fostering a collaborative and interconnected environment that contributes to the overall growth of NEAR.

As the operational backbone of the program, Meta Pool plays a pivotal role in guiding and facilitating ENOs. This includes managing the distribution of staking allocated to the program. Currently, there is a substantial pool of 5,000,000 $NEAR tokens earmarked to support the staking activities of these Enterprise Node Operators.

Here is a list of some current participating ENOs so far (note that this list will be updated as new ENOs are added to the program):

• North Stake
• Colossus
• Luga Nodes
• Sensei Node
• DSRV Labs
• Triton One
• Stakin
• Frens Validator
• Grassets Tech
• Nodes International
• Alpha Nodes
• A41
• Money Crypt
• Stable Lab
• Alum Labs

The launch of the ENO program signifies Meta Pool’s and the NEAR Foundation’s shared commitment to fostering institutional collaboration and expanding the influence of the NEAR Ecosystem. As the program expands, the ENO initiative aims to strengthen global partnerships, driving collective success and innovation across the decentralized landscape.

 Please join Meta Pool in welcoming these institutions to the NEAR community. For more updates about the ENO program or to refer a participant, follow along on X at @meta_pool or visit their blog.  The Meta Pool team will also host Spaces with each ENO team during the month of February to educate the NEAR community and let enterprise partners share what they are adding to the NEAR ecosystem. 

The post Meta Pool Launches Enterprise Node Operators Program appeared first on NEAR Protocol.

NEAR’s vision of chain abstraction to facilitate broad adoption of decentralized apps requires an extremely scalable blockchain layer. From the start, NEAR has been designed to scale with demand towards mainstream adoption. A primary benefit of the new sharding implementation will be an up-to-10x speed improvement to NEAR’s already-fast transaction throughput. Sharding is NEAR’s unique approach to scaling, which partitions the blockchain into multiple parallel “shards.” Combined with NEAR already having the lowest transaction fees in Web3, this sharding upgrade positions NEAR at the forefront of Web3 in terms of both performance and scalability. Phase 2 greatly improves the network’s capacity for end user volume and is an important landmark on the road to global-scale usage of Web3. 

“NEAR continues to make progress on bringing Chain Abstraction infrastructure that can scale to a billion users and beyond,” said Illia Polosukhin, Co-Founder of NEAR Protocol and CEO of NEAR Foundation. “The scalability improvements from stateless validation can unlock even better user experiences for more end-user applications, whether multichain DeFi-style dapps or those aimed at mainstream users.”

Phase 2 introduces the most significant changes to the NEAR Protocol since its Mainnet launch in 2020. The biggest of these is the implementation of stateless validation: an innovative approach to state change, or the process of updating the status of all the data posted to the blockchain. Now, NEAR validators no longer have to maintain the state of a shard locally and can retrieve all the information they need to validate state changes, or “state witness,” from the network. 

With stateless validation, NEAR can finally achieve the truest form of sharding, where shards can function mostly independently at the consensus level to improve decentralization and throughput while preserving the highest security guarantees. An added benefit is that the hardware requirements to run most validator nodes are dramatically reduced (a smaller number of “chunk proposer” validators with specialized hardware will validate blocks with state held in memory). This also paves the way for greater decentralization of the network by lowering the barrier to entry to become a validator.

“We’re very excited about the potential for future proofing the NEAR protocol design with stateless validation,” said Bowen Wang, Director of Protocol at Pagoda. “From a research perspective, we expect that as zero-knowledge tech matures, more protocols will adopt a similar approach, where a smaller set of expensive machines execute transactions and produce proofs, while a bigger validator set validates the proofs. This will enable more unified security across networks and defragment Web3, advancing a key aspect of the chain abstraction vision.” 

Phase 2 is a shift in direction from the original Nightshade sharding architecture NEAR launched with in 2020, bypassing some fundamental roadblocks in that protocol design around the implementation of challenges in the initial idea of Phase 2, while also unlocking additional benefits. Other network improvements in Phase 2 include in-memory trie, wherein validator nodes can load the entire state into RAM for maximized performance. This will greatly improve transaction throughput thanks to minimizing storage access. 

NEAR users should not experience any downtime with the transition to Phase 2 and no special action is required from validators, apart from adjusting hardware specs. Through dozens of protocol upgrades since Mainnet launch, including three major upgrades, the core NEAR protocol has had 100% uptime with zero disruption for developers and end users. 

On Thursday, February 1, Stake Wars IV: Attack of the Transactions will launch to incentivize battle testing of the new sharding architecture. Planned to run through March 31, the latest edition of Stake Wars invites community members to test features and generate traffic. For more information about participating and deeper technical detail about Phase 2, visit the Stake Wars page on Github. 

With the launch of Phase 2, NEAR becomes one of the only networks in Web3 to implement stateless validation to improve scaling and paves the way for further network performance and scalability improvements in the future roadmap. A technical paper with more detail about NEAR’s new sharding design is forthcoming later in Q1. Phase 2 is expected to launch on NEAR Mainnet in May 2024.

The post Phase 2 of NEAR Sharding Launches appeared first on NEAR Protocol.

The NEAR Snap was developed by HERE Wallet (led by Petr Volnov and Andrey Zhevlakov) and supported by the Banyan Collective. NEAR Snap is one of several integrations in the recently launched MetaMask Snap ecosystem, a series of apps developed by independent teams across Web3 looking to expand the functionality of the MetaMask Wallet experience. 

The launch of NEAR Snap makes the MetaMask ecosystem more accessible to the NEAR community. While Aurora, as an EVM compatible blockchain, can already be operated inside MetaMask, NEAR Snap is the first time NEAR transactions can be supported natively in MetaMask. Snaps allows for greater interoperability between blockchains, as MetaMask is also  able to interact and sign transactions on other non-EVM chains including NEAR, Solana, Cosmos, Tezos, Bitcoin, Sui, Aptos, Algorand, and others. Innovations like Snaps contribute to creating a frictionless Web3 experience for everyone. 

Unlocking new NEAR Capabilities 

In its first iteration, NEAR Snap allows MetaMask users to interact directly with the NEAR Protocol, but NEAR Snap isn’t stopping there. As part of its ongoing development, the NEAR builders community plans to develop BOS components to enable web wallet-like functionalities through a set of different gateways for not just NEAR Snaps, but also for other wallets in the ecosystem. NEAR Snap is also creating an easy integration for other dApps in the NEAR Ecosystem. Dapps can start integrating with NEAR Snaps via the NEAR Wallet Selector. 

How to use NEAR applications with Metamask

1. Assuming you already have a Metamask wallet, open https://my.herewallet.app/ 
2. Click “I Already Have An Account”
3. Click “Metamask Snap”
4. Confirm transactions in via Metamask extension titled “Third-party software notice”, “Connection Request”, “Installation Request”, and “Sign Message”
5. Create a .near username / “nickname”
6. Approve transactions asking for your public data, to add a nickname to the account, and to sign message
7. Use any of the applications that support NEAR Snap via the “HERE Connector”: https://my.herewallet.app/

FAQ

Isn’t MetaMask already supported through Aurora?

Yes. Aurora is an EVM compatible blockchain, which means you can switch networks to Aurora within MetaMask. However, the NEAR Snap allows you to support transactions on NEAR’s non-EVM shards.

What does the NEAR Snap do for BOS?

The NEAR Snap can be added to BOS gateways so that EVM + NEAR experiences can both be in one wallet. Additionally, the power of BOS can bridge the gap of a lack of GUI to provide a wallet front end for not only the NEAR SNAP but other chain SNAPs as well. 

How is this different from the NETH implementation made by Proximity?

NETH is a smart contract designed to enable your Ethereum account to sign transactions and remotely manage your paired NEAR account. This allows you to directly interact with NEAR decentralized applications (dApps) using your Ethereum wallet, such as MetaMask. Essentially, it acts as a proxy that facilitates Ethereum-view transactions on the NEAR network. This functions as a separate EVM network, but has many limitations. 

On the other hand, Snap is a miniature application that allows you to create and sign regular NEAR-view transactions. These mini-applications are typically opened from the websites where the signing process is required. Within these mini-applications, you can sign, review the transaction, and perform other related actions. Nevertheless, the user cannot open them as a separate network within MetaMask and view balances independently.

How is this different from remote accounts coming to NEAR?

Remote Accounts are the concept that you can use NEAR to to sign transactions on other blockchains, simply put. This concept’s implementation is still under development and being discussed on Github 

The post MetaMask Is Now Usable on NEAR via NEAR Snap 🦊🤝 appeared first on NEAR Protocol.

The NEAR Foundation’s vision has always been to help the world create a truly Open Web, giving all people full control of their data, privacy, and power of governance. In 2023, the NEAR ecosystem saw remarkable progress towards this vision, with the NEAR Protocol now home to three of the top ten apps in Web3, a record number of daily users, and closer collaboration than ever with the Ethereum community.

With the NEAR Foundation Council (NFC), we’ve conducted a thorough review of the Foundation’s activities. During this process, we heard feedback that the Foundation has not always been as effective as it could be, sometimes moving too slowly and trying to do too many things at once. Following this review, we have decided to significantly consolidate the core Foundation team to focus on a narrower and higher-impact set of activities. Over time, Foundation’s footprint will continue to contract as the ecosystem further decentralizes and various nodes drive more activity in the network and across the ecosystem.

As part of this realignment, NEAR Foundation will reduce its team by approximately 40%, impacting 35 colleagues, primarily across the marketing, business development, and community teams. The NEAR Protocol Engineering Team at Pagoda will continue to operate as it has. The NEAR Foundation will provide support to affected colleagues during this time to help them find new opportunities in the NEAR ecosystem, the Web3 industry, and beyond. We thank each of our departing colleagues for your efforts and contributions towards our shared vision of the Open Web.

The NEAR Foundation treasury remains strong and well-managed, with over $285m fiat, 305m NEAR (worth over $1B), and $70m of investments and loans. The Foundation is well-placed to continue to support the ongoing growth, development, and further decentralization of the NEAR Protocol and ecosystem.

Thank you to everyone in the NEAR community for your ongoing efforts and support. We are excited to move forward with more focus, more efficiency, and more speed. We’ll share more updates soon about what comes next as we work to advance chain abstraction, user-owned AI, and mainstream adoption of the Open Web.

Keep building,

Illia

–Illia Polosukhin, CEO of NEAR Foundation

The post An Update from the NEAR Foundation appeared first on NEAR Protocol.

The latest technical integration for NEAR DA’s efficient and highly scalable data availability is now available for Arbitrum Orbit, the tech stack that allows developers to launch their own configurable rollups based on Arbitrum’s technology.

Arbitrum Orbit is a L2/L3 scaling solution for Ethereum that lets developers build their own dedicated chains with their own configurations. Arbitrum Orbit chains derive trustless security, while scaling Ethereum. With the latest NEAR DA integration, rollup builders could benefit from cheaper data availability costs to significantly reduce their overall rollup overheads. 

Develop Ethereum rollups within the Arbitrum Orbit ecosystem enabled by NEAR DA

The NEAR-Arbitrum integration allows devs  building their own rollups to be part of Arbitrum Orbit, an ecosystem of blockchains that settle onto Arbitrum or Ethereum Mainnet, while leveraging the cost effectiveness and scalability of the NEAR Protocol. 

Arbitrum is a clear innovative leader in developing the Optimistic Rollup technology, while also operating as an L2 with the highest TVL. Arbitrum now offers its own stack to other rollups builders with Arbitrum Orbit, one step closer to decentralizing Ethereum.  

Arbitrum Orbit chains leverage the Arbitrum Nitro tech stack, the technology that Arbitrum developed to scale Ethereum. It allows builders to create their own blockchains, which settles transactions on Arbitrum One, Arbitrum Nova, or Ethereum Mainnet if the Arbitrum DAO grants an L2 license. 

These Orbit chains, which use Arbitrum’s Rollup and AnyTrust protocols, offer customization across throughput, privacy, gas token, and governance to cater to specific use cases and business requirements. For instance, rollup builders looking for cheaper DA alternatives can now utilize NEAR DA within the Arbitrum Orbit stack. With this, developers can build self-managed, configurable blockchains with enhanced control over its features and governance, while deriving the security guarantees of Ethereum.  

NEAR DA paves the way for modular blockchain development

This integration empowers rollup builders on Arbitrum Orbit to use NEAR DA as a complete out-of-the-box modular DA solution. 

As of December 2023, 231 kB of calldata on NEAR costs $0.0016, while the same calldata on Ethereum L1 costs users $140.54. 

NEAR DA helps developers reduce costs and enhance their rollup’s reliability, while maintaining the security guarantees provided by Ethereum. Another upside to NEAR DA is that high quality projects launching an app-chain or L2 will be able to get out of the box NEAR DA compatibility and support. 

“Offering a data availability layer to Ethereum rollups highlights the versatility of NEAR’s tech while also helping founders from across Web3 deliver great products that bring us closer to mainstream adoption of the Open Web,” said Polosukhin, when announcing NEAR DA at NEARCON ‘23. 

“NEAR’s L1 has been live with 100% uptime for more than three years, so it can offer true reliability to projects looking for secure DA while also being cost-effective,” Polosukhin added. “NEAR provides great solutions to developers no matter which stack they’re building on and now that includes the Ethereum modular blockchain landscape.”
Interested teams who want to work with NEAR DA are invited to fill out this form, with information about your project and how you would like to integrate with NEAR DA.

The post Arbitrum Integrates NEAR DA for Developers Building Ethereum Rollups  appeared first on NEAR Protocol.