A New Stage in NEAR Ecosystem Decentralization

As the NEAR ecosystem continues its journey towards full decentralization, the IC invites experienced infrastructure vendors, whether already within or new to the NEAR ecosystem, to participate in maintaining and enhancing essential services. This initiative not only ensures that critical infrastructure remains operational, but also opens up funding opportunities for providers who can bring innovative solutions and cost-effective strategies to the table.

Available RFPs:

1. NEAR Lake Maintenance and Development: Oversee the continued operation and improvement of NEAR Lake, the data availability layer crucial for developers and applications.
2. Kit Wallet API Support: Manage and enhance the API services that power Kit Wallet, facilitating seamless transactions and user interactions.
3. BigQuery Data Services: Maintain and optimize the BigQuery datasets, enabling efficient data analysis and insights for developers and stakeholders.
4. NEAR.org RPC Services: Ensure the reliability and performance of the Remote Procedure Call (RPC) services vital for communication between clients and the NEAR blockchain.

Note: The first three RFPs are interconnected, as Kit Wallet API and BigQuery depend on NEAR Lake. Providers are encouraged to consider bidding on these together to ensure seamless integration and service continuity.

Access all RFPs and submission details on the NEAR Infrastructure Committee Portal.

Why This Matters

• For NEAR Ecosystem: Maintaining critical infrastructure is essential for the NEAR network’s reliability and growth. This initiative ensures that these services remain uninterrupted and continue to support the ecosystem effectively.
• For Infrastructure Providers: An open bidding process offers a fair opportunity to secure funding and contribute significantly to NEAR infrastructure, leveraging your expertise to drive innovation.
• For Developers and Users: A robust and decentralized infrastructure means better performance, reliability, and new opportunities for engagement within the NEAR ecosystem.

About the Infrastructure Committee and the Proposal Process

The NEAR Infrastructure Committee is committed to transparency and decentralization in funding. The proposal process is conducted openly through the IC’s on-chain portal, ensuring fair evaluation and selection of candidates. Here’s how it works:

1. Submission: Interested providers submit their proposals via the IC’s on-chain portal. Applications will be open for a two-week period starting September 24 and ending on October 8.
2. Evaluation: The IC reviews proposals based on technical expertise, proposed budgets, and cost-reduction strategies aligned with current usage statistics. Evaluations will be completed within one week after the submission period ends.
3. Selection: Successful candidates will be awarded contracts to manage and develop critical infrastructure components.

Please note: The IC expects vendors to propose reasonable budgets rather than posting expected budgets up front. It is up to the infrastructure partners to calculate funding based on usage and pricing. Accurate pricing will help determine viable candidates. While the committee  may have potential providers in mind, this is an open bidding process that will fairly consider all qualified applicants.

Stay Connected and Informed

For updates and more information about the Infrastructure Committee and the RFP process, explore the following resources:

• Pagoda Wind-Down and Spin-Out: Ecosystem Update
• Future of Pagoda Services: Read More
• About the Infrastructure Committee: NEAR Blog
• NEAR Infrastructure Committee Portal: Proposals and RFPs

Call to Action: Make a Bid

If you are an infrastructure provider with the expertise to manage and enhance critical NEAR services, the IC encourages you to review the RFPs and submit your proposal. This is your opportunity to contribute to the future of decentralized infrastructure on NEAR.

Submit your proposal today via the NEAR Infrastructure Committee Portal.

Help the IC spread the word! Share this announcement with any stakeholders or organizations that might be interested in this opportunity.

The post RFPs Now Open to Maintain Critical Infrastructure on NEAR appeared first on NEAR Protocol.

Spinouts of NEAR ecosystem initiatives allow teams to focus on their core competencies and move quickly and autonomously with clear and aligned incentives. Importantly, an open and decentralized ecosystem encourages transparency and gives everyone a fair chance to seek funding and support for their contributions. A decentralized ecosystem is also more antifragile and sustainable due to an ever-increasing number of collaborating and competing projects. 

Near One

The Pagoda team developing the core NEAR blockchain protocol is now Near One, a team of 30 employees led by Bowen Wang, Head of Protocol. Near One’s mandate is to develop and maintain the NEAR Protocol and roadmap, providing high-performance and scalable infrastructure to support the wide range of activities in the NEAR ecosystem, including consumer apps, Chain Abstraction, modularity, DeFi, and User-Owned AI. Working independently will allow Near One to operate with greater speed and autonomy, and also makes room for multiple node/protocol teams to build on NEAR without relying on an “official” one. Near One will share exciting news about the next phase of sharding later this month. 

Chain Abstraction Spinout

Following the successful launch of Chain Signatures mainnet, an independent team with key contributors from Pagoda and other nodes will focus on developing the technology and partnerships needed to make the Chain Abstraction vision a reality. This new team will continue the NEAR ecosystem’s leadership in advancing Chain Abstraction for all of Web3. More information and a name for this project are forthcoming in September, so stay tuned.

Future of Pagoda and Pagoda Services

Given that these two spinouts represent a large percentage of Pagoda’s current staff and responsibilities, the NEAR Foundation Council decided to change the model for funding the other ecosystem services Pagoda has been operating. These will now be distributed via the Infrastructure Committee to a decentralized set of providers over the next six months. For updates on Pagoda’s transition timeline and process, please consult this Future of Pagoda Services page.

These transitions mean that Pagoda will be winding down, with some Pagoda employees joining other ecosystem nodes including the NEAR Foundation, NEAR.AI, and DevHub teams. Remaining team members will be offered support to found new ecosystem projects, join other ecosystem teams, or bid as independent providers to take over existing work via an RFP process run by the Infrastructure Committee. People with strong knowledge of NEAR technologies are always encouraged to start new projects and seek funding support: this is the most transparent, fair, and sustainable approach for growing the ecosystem as it approaches 4 years since mainnet launch. 

NEAR ecosystem teams interested in hiring Pagoda team members are encouraged to share openings on the Jobs Board and to consult this opt-in list of people open to new roles. There will also be a hacker house-style Pagoda offsite in Tarrytown, New York in early September, now open to ecosystem contributors interested in connecting with team members and brainstorming independent projects (apply to attend here). 

Looking Ahead

In addition to the launch of Chain Signatures mainnet last week and the upcoming mainnet launch of Nightshade 2.0, the NEAR ecosystem has seen major recent success across a range of key metrics. Last month, in July 2024, the NEAR ecosystem had more than 20 million monthly active users across apps and projects––the highest on any L1 chain, with over 110 million accounts overall. NEAR also reached over 3 million daily active users, the highest of any chain, averaging between six and seven million transactions per day, and has the highest 12-month user retention among L1 blockchains. 

A more decentralized and autonomous ecosystem of independent projects will be better equipped to expand on this impressive growth and bring NEAR’s vision and best-in-class technology to a billion users. Those interested in keeping up with the latest news and launches on NEAR should follow along on X, attend monthly ecosystem Town Halls, watch NEAR AI Office Hours, and attend the [REDACTED] conference and hackathon in Bangkok, Nov. 9-11.

The post Ecosystem Update: Announcing Near One, Chain Abstraction Spinouts  appeared first on NEAR Protocol.