---
id: near
title: NEAR
description: Layer 1 blockchain designed for usability and scalability.
image: /img/partners/near.jpg
website: https://near.org/
twitter: https://x.com/NEARProtocol
tags: ['Company']
hide_table_of_contents: true
---

# NEAR

<div className="partner-logo">
  <img src="/img/partners/near.jpg" alt="NEAR logo" />
</div>

Layer 1 blockchain designed for usability and scalability.

## About NEAR

NEAR Protocol is a scalable, developer-first Layer 1 blockchain designed to overcome usability and fragmentation challenges in Web3. It combines AI-native capabilities with chain abstraction technology, enabling applications to interact seamlessly across multiple blockchains while maintaining high performance. The protocol processes over 1.3 million daily transactions with 1-second finality and supports JavaScript-based development, making it accessible to 20M+ web developers globally.

**Main Products/Services**

- Chain Abstraction SDK for cross-chain interoperability
- Nightshade sharding system for horizontal scalability
- FastAuth passwordless authentication system
- AI agent framework for autonomous transaction management
- Human-readable accounts (e.g., `alice.near`)

**Web3 Significance**  
NEAR ranks among the top 20 blockchain ecosystems by market cap ($5.8B) and pioneered chain abstraction - a critical innovation for unifying fragmented blockchain ecosystems. Its partnerships with Aurora, Flux, and Mintbase demonstrate its role as foundational infrastructure for DeFi, NFTs, and AI-driven dApps.

## Technology

**Stack & Innovations**

- **Sharding Architecture**: Uses Nightshade dynamic sharding to split network into parallel chains, achieving 100K+ TPS scalability
- **AI-Native Runtime**: Allows autonomous AI agents to execute complex transactions across chains
- **Rust/JavaScript SDK**: Enables smart contract development in familiar web languages
- **Gas Fee Abstraction**: Protocol-level subsidy system for frictionless user onboarding

**Technical Approach**  
NEAR separates blockchain operations into two layers:

1. **Consensus Layer**: Validates transactions via Proof-of-Stake across shards
2. **Execution Layer**: Processes smart contracts through WebAssembly (WASM) virtual machine

This architecture solves blockchain's scalability trilemma by maintaining decentralization while offering 1-second finality and $0.01 average transaction fees.

## Key Features

1. **Chain Abstraction**

   - Unified interface for cross-chain interactions (Ethereum, Solana, etc.)
   - Single account manages assets across 70+ networks

2. **AI Agent Framework**

   - Autonomous agents handle asset management/DeFi strategies
   - Integrated with Ankr's blockchain APIs for real-time data

3. **Sharding 2.0**

   - Dynamic resharding adjusts network partitions based on demand
   - Near-infinite horizontal scalability

4. **JavaScript Native**

   - Full-stack development using web-standard tools
   - 10x larger developer pool vs Solidity/Rust chains

5. **FastAuth**

   - Web2-style login with social/mobile auth
   - Gasless transactions for end-users

6. **Data Availability**

   - Built-in storage for NFT metadata/dApp state
   - 100MB/s per-shard throughput

7. **Governance**
   - DAO structure with community-elected council
   - On-chain voting for protocol upgrades

## Integration with Eliza

The official **elizaos-near-plugin** enables:

**Technical Synergies**

- Autonomous AI agents deploy/manage NEAR smart contracts
- Eliza agents use NEAR Account Aggregation for cross-chain liquidity positions
- NEAR's AI runtime executes Eliza agent strategies at protocol level

**Key Use Cases**

1. _AI-Managed Portfolios_: Eliza agents automatically rebalance assets across NEAR-based DeFi protocols
2. _Cross-Chain DAOs_: NEAR's chain abstraction allows Eliza agents to govern communities spanning multiple networks
3. _NFT Marketplaces_: AI agents mint/trade NFTs using NEAR's storage-centric contracts

**User Benefits**

- Eliza users access NEAR's ecosystem without managing wallets/chains
- NEAR developers gain AI agent capabilities through plugin SDK

## Recent Developments

**2025 Milestones**

- Launched **NEAR AI Runtime** (Q1) - embedded LLMs in smart contracts
- Partnered with Saga to enable ElizaOS agents to spin up NEAR-based Chainlets
- Integrated **zkWASM** proofs for privacy-preserving AI transactions

**2024 Achievements**

- Surpassed 8M monthly active accounts
- Deployed **Meta Transactions** allowing dApps to subsidize user fees

**Roadmap**

- Q3 2025: Horizontal sharding for AI model training
- Q4 2025: On-chain agent reputation system

## Market Position

**Competitive Edge**  
|| NEAR | Ethereum | Solana |  
|---|---|---|---|  
| TPS | 100K+ | 15-45 | 3,000 |  
| Finality | 1 sec | 6 min | 0.4 sec |  
| Avg Fee | $0.01 | $1.50 | $0.00025 |

**Key Partnerships**

- **Ankr**: Provides multi-chain RPC endpoints for NEAR AI agents
- **Saga**: Co-developing AI-specific blockchain infrastructure
- **Mintbase**: Powers 60% of NFT projects on NEAR

**Adoption Metrics**

- $4.3B TVL in NEAR DeFi ecosystem
- 45% of transactions come from AI-powered agents
- 80% month-over-month growth in AI developer activity

## Links

[Website](https://near.org) | [Documentation](https://docs.near.org)  
[GitHub](https://github.com/near) | [Twitter](https://x.com/NEARProtocol)  
[Developer Portal](https://near.builders) | [Blog](https://near.org/blog)