Near Protocol

Near Protocol releases blockchain operating system for Web3

Cointelegraph interviewed the protocol team at ETHDenver 2023 about the new operating system and funds raised to help Ukrainians last year.

The decentralized application (DApp) Near Protocol is releasing a new blockchain operating system, focusing on improving user experience on Web3 through a common layer for browsing and discovering open web resources, the company disclosed at the Web3 and innovation festival ETHDenver 2023.

In an interview with Cointelegraph’s Turner Wright during the event, Near co-founder Illia Polosukhin spoke on how the ecosystem is moving closer to user’s needs and the release of the Blockchain Operating System (BOS).

According to the Near team, the system works with any blockchain or Web2 backend, allowing users to have the experience of using a single app, even when switching between applications or chains. For developers, the solutions promise to deliver decentralized and composable frontends, enabling the fork of pieces and components and built-ins such as payments, profiles, and notifications without any hosting involved.

Polosukhin noted about the blockchain operating system: 

“The iOS provides developers a place to show their app in front of billions of users, and it gives them all the services and the infrastructure underneath to build, so you kind of just plug in here. That’s what we’re trying to do, trying to kind of give the distribution here, give the platform underneath and let developers build.”

The protocol, which is a competitor of Ethereum offering smart contract capable and a proof-of-stake blockchain, sought a 10x growth on key metrics last year, including number of transactions, active monthly wallets, projects onboarded, developers and money invested within the ecosystem, claimed the co-founder. 

Related: Smart contracts to power day-to-day Web3 company operations

“A lot of projects just migrated over to Near,” noted Polosukhin about last year’s growth, combined with an effort to search for existing applications with a user base:

“They came to us, some of them because they saw you can write in JavaScript smart contracts. That’s like three times cheaper to hire developers. This is just more usable not just for users, but for developers as well.”

Unchain Fund

Polosukhin is also one of the developers behind the Unchain Fund, a fundraising effort created last year to help Ukrainians affected by the war. As of early 2023, the fund had raised over $9 million in donations, almost entirely in crypto assets.

According to him, the raised funds were crucial to support the people of Ukraine in the first weeks of war, while international help was still underway at a lower pace:

“The Red Cross, UNICEF, they take months to spin up all of their systems when something happens, that’s just that’s how they are. They’re slow […] but when they get there, they have the procedure, and they set it up, they build the supply chain, logistics, and then they can start delivering. So, in a way, crypto funds covered in the beginning, like spin-up time for a similar government aid.”

Part of the raised funds were used for a program dedicated to women with children who run away from home, providing weekly payments of 25 euros to roughly 6,000 Ukrainian women. The funds were also used to purchase ambulances through the global initiative United24. 

NYU to launch Web3 learning workshop in partnership with Near Protocol

The course exposes students to the technology underlying the industry, with hands-on experience working with Web3 tools.

Education is a well-known barrier to entry for many when it comes to crypto and Web3 space. This is particularly true when understanding the underlying technology that powers these innovations. 

Joining in on the effort to spread crypto awareness, on Feb. 8, the New York University School of Professional Studies (NYU SPS) — one of the schools that compose New York University — announced a partnership with the Near Foundation to introduce a new “Web3 Learning Workshop” for students and faculty, along with partners in the industry.

The course comes out of NYU SPS Preston Robert Tisch Institute for Global Sport. The workshop will have a specific angle looking at the intersection between Web3 and blockchain technologies and the sports industry.

Angie Kamath, the dean of NYU SPS, said that universities have a responsibility to prepare their communities for “success in every industry.”

“Web3 and blockchain technologies will have a large role to play, not just in the sports industry but in every industry that touches our lives.”

The course touches the basics of blockchain and digital assets and their utility in the sports world. Those involved in the course will be exposed to hands-on experience taught by a co-founder of the Near ecosystem, Michael Kelly.

Related: Binance Charity to provide over 30K Web3 scholarships in 2023

Additionally, students involved in the NYU SPS will be eligible for new nonfungible token rewards via a decentralized application on the Near platform. While NYU is not the first school to introduce a curriculum on blockchain and Web3 technologies, it is one of the top universities in the United States. 

Educators in Australia recently came out with a statement saying there is a global lack of “qualified people” with education in the Web3 industry. 

The Blockchain Academy International’s Huxley Peckham highlighted that 60 industries have implemented blockchain technology in some way and that blockchain education is important for “the next generation of strategists and consultants.”

Skyward finance exploit allegedly results in $3M loss

The hacker appears to have drained the platform of 1.1 million NEAR tokens, worth approximately $3 million at time of publication.

Skyward finance, an initial DEX offering (IDO) platform enabling fair token distribution for projects on the Near Protocol, has reportedly been exploited for 1.1 million Near Protocol (NEAR) tokens, worth an estimated $3 at time of publication. 

The news was shared on Twitter by Aurora Lab’s community moderator Sanket Naikwadi, who stated that the exploit was first noticed by a member of the Near Protocol community, who goes by the handle Nearscout.

According to the series of tweets on the exploit, Ref finance — a community-led multi-purpose decentralized finance (DeFi) platform built on the Near Protocol — and the Skyward team have been notified of the drain.

The exploiter reportedly initiated the drain by buying lots of skyward tokens on Ref Finance, and “then redeemed it through Treasury on Skyward Finance,” where they appear to have “got lots of NEAR than what 1 SKYWARD was worth.”

Naikwadi cautioned SKYWARD Token holders to redeem or swap their tokens wherever they can, and no longer interact with Skyward Finance, adding that the “hacker has already withdrawn NEAR to lots of different wallets.”

Related: Barely halfway and October already the biggest month in crypto hacks: Finance Refined

Exploits within the DeFi ecosystem appear to be on the rise. Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis recently labeled October 2022 as “the biggest month in the biggest year ever for hacking activity.”

On Oct 12, Cointelegraph reported that $100 million worth of cryptocurrency was drained from Solana-based DeFi exchange Mango Markets, resulting in its token plunging by 52%. On the same day of the Mango Markets’ exploit, TempleDAO was also exploited for $2 million.

Skyward finance exploit allegedly results in $3 million loss

The hacker appears to have drained the platform of 1.1M NEAR tokens, worth an approximate $3 million dollars USD at time of publication.

Skyward finance, an IDO platform enabling fair token distribution for projects on the NEAR Protocol, has reportedly been exploited for 1.1M NEAR tokens, worth an estimated $3 million USD at time of publication. 

The news was shared on Twitter by Aurora Lab’s community moderator Sanket Naikwadi, who stated that the exploit was first noticed by a member of the NEAR protocol community, who goes by the handle @Nearscout.

According to the series of tweets on the exploit, Ref finance — a community-led multi-purpose DeFi platform built on the NEAR Protocol — and the Skyward team have been notified of the drain.

The exploiter reportedly initiated the drain by buying lots of skyward tokens on Ref Finance, and “then redeemed it through Treasury on Skyward Finance.”, where they appear to have “got lots of NEAR than what 1 SKYWARD was worth”.

Naikwadi cautioned SKYWARD Token holders to redeem or swap their tokens wherever they can, and no longer interact with Skyward Finance, adding that the “Hacker has already withdrawn NEAR to lots of different wallets.”

Related: Barely halfway and October already the biggest month in crypto hacks: Finance Refined

Exploits within the Defi ecosystem appear to be on the rise. Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis recentlylabeled October 2022 as “the biggest month in the biggest year ever for hacking activity.”

On Oct 12, Cointelegraph reported that $100 million worth of cryptocurrency was drained from Solana-based decentralized finance (DeFi) exchange Mango Markets, resulting in its token plunging by 52%. On the same day of the Mango Market’s exploit, TempleDAO was also exploited for $2 million.

Near Foundation sets up $40M fund to bail out USN investors in case of collapse

The program was launched after Decentral Bank, the issuer of NEAR-native stablecoin USN, raised concerns about the stablecoin depegging due to algorithmic failure.

Near Protocol’s in-house stablecoin, USN, recently became undercollateralized, forcing Near Foundation to recommend winding down USN to prevent a situation similar to the Terra (LUNA) and TerraUSD (UST) collapse. Supporting this move, the Near Foundation opened up a $40 million fund to protect investors and help them cash out of USN with equal amounts of wrapped Tether (USDT.e).

On Oct. 24, Near Foundation revealed setting up a $40 million fund, allowing eligible USN holders to redeem their USN tokens on a 1:1 basis with USDT.e. The program was launched after Decentral Bank (DCB), the issuer of NEAR-native stablecoin USN, raised concerns about the stablecoin depegging due to algorithmic failure.

The USN Protection Program aims to cover the collateral gap of $40 million, which the foundation confirmed was not linked to the Near Protocol (NEAR) token price. Taking proactive measures to protect investors from a possible collapse, Near stated:

“The NEAR Foundation is recommending that DCB wind down USN in an orderly manner. To assist with this process, the NEAR Foundation has provided a $40m USD grant to a subsidiary of Aurora Labs – one of the NEAR ecosystem’s most prominent contributors – to set up the USN Protection Programme.”

The grant was provided to an Aurora Labs subsidiary and was immediately made available for users to exchange their depegged stablecoin tokens. However, redemptions will begin only after DCB commences the winding down process.

According to DCB, USN tokens were no longer algorithmic after the initial algorithmic version of USN (v1) was upgraded to v2 — making the stablecoin “susceptible to undercollateralization during extreme market conditions.”

While the eligibility criteria for investors were not disclosed, Near confirmed that the drive will remain active for one year until 24th Oct. 2023. Furthermore, Near announced plans to set up a stablecoin-centered funded initiative that prevents collateralization-related issues to safeguard the investors from such catastrophes.

Near Foundation has not immediate responded to Cointelegraph’s request for comment.

Related: Inflation-pegged ‘flatcoin’ launches testnet to track the cost of living

The Acting United States Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) chairman Martin Gruenberg recently discussed stablecoin use cases in relation to the FDIC’s approach to banks considering engaging in crypto-asset-related activities.

While Gruenberg raised concerns about the ever-evolving use cases and business models of crypto-assets, the FDIC confirmed its efforts to gather crucial information to aid it in comprehending and eventually providing supervisory feedback on crypto assets.

Near Protocol partners with Google Cloud to support Web3 devs

Under a partnership with Near Protocol, Google Cloud will support Near developers in building and scaling their Web3 projects and DApps.

Near Foundation has announced a new partnership between Google Cloud and Near Protocol, providing infrastructure for Near’s Web3 startup platform, Pagoda. 

According to an Oct. 4 announcement, this partnership will allow Google Cloud to provide “technical support” to Near grant recipients by providing infrastructure for Near’s Remote Procedure Call node provider to Pagoda.

Near Protocol is a decentralized application (DApp) platform that focuses on usability among developers and users. It utilizes sharding technology to achieve scalability and, as a competitor to Ethereum, is also smart-contract capable and a proof-of-stake blockchain.

Launched in February 2022, Pagoda is a startup platform that provides Web3 developers building on Near with a full-stack toolset to construct, launch and maintain their Web3 projects or DApps on the blockchain.

In a statement, Google Cloud director of digital assets Carlos Arena said Google’s infrastructure will allow Near developers a means to “build and scale,” and said the company will continue to support “new products and services on blockchain-based platforms.”

Related: Lesson learned? Sky Mavis teams up with Google Cloud to avoid another Ronin hack

In September, Google Cloud inked a similar partnership with Binance’s smart contract blockchain platform, BNB Chain, allowing startups that are building products and services on the BNB Chain blockchain to also be able to build on Google Cloud’s scalable, secure and open-source infrastructure.

Google Cloud launched a new digital assets team in January to support the development and evolution of the blockchain ecosystem. The digital asset team is focused on helping Google Cloud’s customers create, trade store value and launch new products on blockchain-based platforms.

Tether USDT stablecoin goes live on Near Protocol to boost DeFi presence

Tether USDT is now live on 11 blockchain networks, including the Near Network, Polygon, Kusama, Ethereum, Omni and others.

Major stablecoin issuer Tether Operations Limited continues expanding integrations with diverse blockchain networks, launching the Tether (USDT) stablecoin on the Near Network.

Tether USDT is now live on the Near Network, a smart contract-enabled blockchain platform designed for decentralized applications, Tether officially announced on Monday.

The integration of Tether into the Near blockchain is a major milestone in the firm’s commitment to increase its presence in decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystems, the firm said. “It will alleviate the potential adverse effects associated with market volatility and accelerate scalability for its users,” the announcement added.

The Near Network is the eleventh blockchain that is currently available for Tether USDT. The stablecoin is now also live on chains like Polygon, Kusama, Ethereum, Solana, Algorand, EOS, Liquid Network, Omni, Tron and Bitcoin Cash’s Standard Ledger Protocol.

At the time of writing, the biggest share of USDT is issued on Tron and Ethereum, with $33 billion and $32 billion of USDT running on the blockchains, respectively. Together, Tron and Ethereum make up more than 96% of Tether USDT issued, according to Tether transparency.

Launched in 2014, Tether was originally launched and issued on the Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain via the Omni Layer protocol, a solution used for building and trading digital assets on top of Bitcoin.

The addition of Near Network to the Tether’s ecosystem comes amid Near hitting a major milestone of 700 projects now building on Near, including the Aurora Network and the Octopus Network. As of July, the Near network’s daily volumes averaged between 300,000 to 400,000 transactions.

Related: Tether responds to Wall Street Journal ‘disinformation’

The Near Foundation also announced on Monday the launch of a $100 million venture capital fund and venture lab targeting Web3 development. The Swiss nonprofit launched the VC fund in cooperation with Caerus, a newly launched investment firm founded by IMG vice president Nathan Pillai.

“The NEAR ecosystem has witnessed historical growth this year and we believe Tether will be essential in helping it continue to thrive,” Tether chief technical officer Paolo Ardoino said.

20 million JavaScript devs can now build applications on NEAR: KBW 2022

“A student can build an app without needing to learn new languages without needing to learn new skills,” said Near founder Illia Polosukhin.

20 million JavaScript developers will now have the ability to write blockchain smart contracts and build applications on the Near Protocol after rolling out JavaScript Software Development Kits (JS SDKs) on Monday.

Speaking with Cointelegraph at the Korea Blockchain Week (KBW) on Tuesday, Near founder Illia Polosukhin emphasized that the move will open up the niche field of blockchain development to a substantially broader audience:

“There’s about 20 million JavaScript developers in the world. Probably like every developer one way or another wrote JavaScript in their life. And what we allow you to do is to write smart contracts in JavaScript.”

“Before we had Solidity so for Ethereum and other layer 2s, we had Rust, which is what Solana and Near are mainly. And so Solidity has probably 100,000 developers who are familiar with it, and those who are active is even less. There is even less probably in Rust,” he added.

In a Monday announcement shared with Cointelegraph, Near outlined that the JS SDK includes the “contract framework itself, JavaScript and TypeScript contract examples and tests.”

Polosukhin went on to note that the JS SDKs could be utilized by anyone from students looking to dip their toes into the blockchain to people in the commercial sector looking to accelerate their projects.

“A student can build an app without needing to learn new languages without needing to learn new skills. It will also be easier for entrepreneurs to hire [devs], so they can actually build teams stronger, faster, and deliver products faster,” he said, adding that:

“So kind of the idea from Near is to build a very extensible and powerful system that allows developers to build really anything from simple apps to very complex apps.”

Questioned on whether the JS SDKs will be Ethereum Virtual Machine compatible, given that Near is an Ethereum competitor, Polosukhin stated that the offering will run specifically on Near but that it is possible to create EVM compatible smart contracts from the SDK, much like how EVM compatible scaling Aurora was created on Near.

Related: Korea Blockchain Week, Aug. 8: First-day takeaways from the Cointelegraph team

Near is a decentralized application (DApp) platform launched in April 2020 that is designed to be developer and user-friendly. Its native token, Near Protocol (NEAR), is currently the twenty-fourth largest crypto asset in terms of market cap at $4.1 billion.

The asset is priced at $5.44 at the time of writing and is up a notably 42.8% over the past 30 days, according to CoinGecko.