ICYMI, it’s time to dive into all the key speeches, events, and announcements that unfolded in the City of Lights over this past weekend.

Interactive Polygon zkEVM app dashboard launches on the BOS

In the most significant partnership announcement of ETHCC, an interactive Polygon zkEVM app dashboard has launched on the Blockchain Operating System (BOS). This integration will not only increase accessibility and discoverability for zkEVM developers and users on the open web but also vastly improve user experience. 

The collaboration is set to accelerate the creation of dApps that will onboard billions of users into the open web. The new Polygon zkEVM dashboard now combines the benefits of zero-knowledge technology with the power of the BOS to unlock even more seamless onboarding to the open web. 

The dashboard brings a new suite of zero knowledge development capabilities to zkEVM developers and lets them build apps that can reach more users from day one. It’s a groundbreaking partnership that brings together the NEAR and Polygon ecosystems, two of the most innovative names in Ethereum and blockchain scalability.

NEAR makes waves with sustainability commitment

NEAR Foundation made a significant stride in its commitment to Web3 sustainability. As part of its ongoing efforts, NEAR signed up to the Ethereum Climate Platform, demonstrating its resolve towards minimizing the environmental impact of Web3 development. This move aligns with NEAR’s ethos and commitment to sustainable and scalable blockchain solutions.

Marieke storms the BOS-tille at “Funding the Commons”

Adding to the list of notable NEAR occurrences during ETHCC, NEAR Foundation CEO, Marieke Flament, was a keynote speaker at the “Funding the Commons” event held at Sorbonne Université on July 15. Marike’s message was one of bringing more ethics and equity to the entire blockchain and Web3 ecosystem.

In her speech, titled “The Open Web is NEAR: How the BOS, NDC, and DAOs are creating a Decentralized Web,” Marieke explored how NEAR Foundation serves the ecosystem by building public goods like the BOS, DevHub, NDC, DAOs, and more. 

“Funding the Commons” is an event designed to complement the Ethereum Community Conference, promoting connection amongst participants, and fostering new collaborations and projects. The event organizers also planned a dinner on July 15 at Le Procope Paris, where Marieke was among the most notable invited guests.

Unpacking Insights: notable talks and events at ETH CC

Near @ ETHCC wasn’t just a gathering of blockchain enthusiasts, but a hotbed of innovative discussions. Illia Polosukhin, co-founder of NEAR, and Nadir Dabit’s conversation around decentralized social networks piqued particular interest. They hinted at a shift in how we’ll connect and share information in the future and the potential role of decentralized social on the BOS.

Matt Stephenson, head of crypto economics at crypto investment firm, Pantera Capital, took the audience on a thrilling Day Two journey through the intricacies of behavioral game theory. He showcased how game theory could be leveraged in this space, offering a unique lens to examine, understand, and potentially predict blockchain trends.

Near @ ETHCC didn’t skimp on forward-looking conversations either. A panel featuring Max Mersch of Fabric Ventures, Maggie Love from SheFi, and Bilal El Alamy of PyratzLabs posed a pertinent question: “What’s the Next Big Use Case Being Built in the Bear Market?” Each speaker provided valuable insight about both challenges and opportunities posed by bear markets.

Ecosystem Updates

Despite the focus on the Near @ ETHCC side event itself, the NEAR ecosystem saw significant developments and milestones during the past few days.

• The NEAR Digital Collective’s I-AM-HUMAN movement has crossed 2,000 members in the NEAR ecosystem. The initiative allows users to vote, elect candidates for office, and shape the future of NEAR. You can sign up here.
• MintbaseSearch has gone live on NEAR mainnet along with its own ChatGPT plugin. Mintbase now enables users to ask anything about NFTs on the NEAR Protocol. More details here.
• Opolis has raised $6.6M in a bridge fundraising round with support from NEAR Foundation, Polygon Ventures, and Draper Capital. Read more details about the full announcement here.
• Black Snow: Battle For Earth, launched its demo version, offering an exciting free-to-play-and-earn experience that aims to enhance the NEAR ecosystem by boosting user count and transactions. Check out the demo here

C’est la vie in Paris as ETHCC 2023 wraps up. As we reflect on these dynamic days, it’s clear that the future of NEAR and the BOS is exciting and full of potential. From environmental commitments to bold collaborations and fascinating talks, NEAR’s Parisian journey was full of engagement, enlightenment, and enthusiasm for everyone involved.

The post NEAR at ETHCC Highlights: Sustainability and the BOS Take Center Stage in Paris appeared first on NEAR Protocol.

The announcement also illustrates NEAR Foundation’s efforts at working collaboratively with globally recognized leaders to minimize the environmental impact of Web3 development. 

Ethereum Climate Platform: accelerating climate finance at scale

At COP27, ConsenSys and climate tech firm Allinfra convened and announced the Ethereum Climate Alliance. A group of technology companies, the ECA is aligned around the mission to accelerate decarbonization and scale climate action. It achieves this by deploying best-in-class technology and funding the development of digital environmental assets designed to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and deliver positive environmental and social impact well into the future.

Inspired by the Ethereum Merge, ECA is launching the Ethereum Climate Platform (ECP) — an initiative designed to collaboratively build a blockchain-based technology platform that will engage a decentralized community to accelerate climate finance at scale. The ECP is committed to redress and counteract the historical Ethereum-based carbon footprint, dating back to the network’s launch in 2015, as well as to accelerate the launch partners’ own decarbonization strategies.

NEAR as a sustainability model for ECP and beyond

By joining the ECP, NEAR Foundation is making clear its intention to act as a sustainability model to the broader tech and business community.  

The collective includes a still-growing list of prominent stakeholders from the Web3 ecosystems, including Laser Digital (Nomura), Microsoft, Polygon, The Climate Collective, Celo, Aave, Filecoin, and UPC Capital Ventures. Beyond open web ecosystem, the ECP also includes civil society leaders who are committed to mitigating human-driven climate change.

NEAR Foundation’s environmental stewardship is an integral part of its ethos. From inception, NEAR has focused on a computational alternative to PoW. 

In this system, known as Proof-of-Stake (PoS), there are no miners. Instead, validators stake a given token amount to allow themselves to take part. PoS blockchains incentivize communities to own and control the network. Only then can they validate blocks and collect a block award. Functionally, NEAR’s PoS, called Nightshade, allows the platform to realize its ambition of being simple, scalable, and secure. 

NEAR sustainability a cornerstone to mass Web3 adoption

From the outset, NEAR Foundation has been dedicated to bringing a billion users into a more open web, said NEAR Foundation CEO, Marieke Flament. 

“We recognised early on that sustainability would be a cornerstone of our approach to facilitating the widespread adoption of Web3 technologies,” Flament added. “By aligning with the Ethereum Climate Platform and implementing our Blockchain Operating System (BOS), we’re not just enhancing the user experience — we’re creating a paradigm shift in the blockchain industry that respects and supports our global environment.”

On a social and ecological level, NEAR’s Nightshade sharding approach allows NEAR Foundation to deliver on its carbon-neutral commitment. In 2021, NEAR Protocol was awarded the Climate Neutral Product Label, and its developers have been leading the charge in this era of extraordinary energy efficiency, creating an infrastructure that is lightning-fast, remarkably secure, and capable of accommodating millions of Web3 users.

NEAR Protocol achieved this after enlisting South Pole, a globally recognized climate solutions provider based in Zurich, Switzerland, to evaluate NEAR’s carbon footprint, find ways to reduce it, and counterbalance the remaining emissions with CO2 offsetting initiatives. The assessment revealed that NEAR Protocol was over 200,000 times more carbon efficient than Bitcoin, primarily due to the adoption of PoS over PoW.

Reforestation projects offset the minimal environmental impact of NEAR, rendering the NEAR Blockchain carbon neutral. Performing transactions on NEAR contributes to tree-planting initiatives in Colombia, Zimbabwe, and the United States via these carbon-offsetting projects.

“Having NEAR Foundation onboard this endeavor strengthens our joint mission significantly,” said Bill Kentrup, Executive Director of ECA. “Through persistent collective effort, we can bring to market climate finance tools that will accelate capital into climate-aligned assets and in turn,  significantly mitigate greenhouse gasses.” 

“As a fellow pioneer in the Web3 space, their participation is invaluable,” said Kentrup, “and we’re sincerely excited about the potential this partnership holds for the future.”

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