Pocket Network has integrated with NEAR on the “Road to 100 Blockchains” (our goal to support 100 blockchains by the end of 2022). NEAR is a bustling ecosystem of applications, from gaming to DeFi and NFTs, offering a scalable, low-fee, and green platform for developers, investors, and users. “Pocket Partners” is a new series by Pocket spotlighting some of the chains and dapps that the protocol supports. Discover more about NEAR and its ecosystem, its potential, and how Pocket is working with it.

What is NEAR?

NEAR is not only a Layer 1 blockchain, but a foundation advancing the blockchain space and a vibrant worldwide community gathering around the value of decentralization.

NEAR as a Leading Layer 1 Network

As a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) network, NEAR is offering developers a UX-friendly, cost-effective, scalable, and environmentally-friendly platform to deploy their applications.NEAR has two pillars that connect to Pocket’s mission: scalability and a multi-chain future.NEAR is designed for high scalability, for applications to reach millions of users without sacrificing quality and performance, given its blockchain-agnostic approach, high speed, and efficiency.Beyond the scalability, NEAR enables seamless transmission between networks like Ethereum, Polkadot, or Cosmos, eliminating friction for developers and enabling a better experience for users. With NEAR’s Aurora, users can bridge to Ethereum, while NEAR also supports other networks like Solana, Celo, and others.NEAR is the go-to platform for developers to leverage crypto’s scalability, financial opportunity, and openness.

NEAR as a Foundation Elevating the Web3 Space

Beyond being a top 10 smart contract platform, NEAR has a pivotal role as a foundation, propelling community efforts and advancing the development and adoption of decentralized technologies.The NEAR Foundation aims to supercharge a “self-sufficient ecosystem of creators, developers, entrepreneurs, community members, and token holders.”As seen in the Foundation, NEAR shares many values with Pocket, particularly regarding the trends that we believe will make Web3 and crypto reach mainstream adoption.The NEAR Foundation’s vision for its ecosystem is based on:

• Clarity
• Seamless onboarding
• Offering the best experience for all stakeholders

Pocket shares this mission, with its own upgrades (such as improvements to the onboarding experience of new chains and the future V1 plans) aimed at improving quality of service for all stakeholders.Another key mission of the NEAR Foundation is to propel the community forward by offering grant programs to support the development of new use-cases and applications. NEAR supports over 800 projects and has deployed more than $45 million in funds.As an open platform, you can discover everything happening with the network through the NEAR Explorer, and reach out to the community to participate in a variety of ways, from office hours to bounties and grants.

A Growing Ecosystem of Applications with a Connected Community

NEAR’s ability to enable new applications is immense, with three main-use cases where creators can leverage its protocol the most: NFTs, Decentralized Finance (DeFi), and DAOs.According to DeFi Llama, NEAR is the 15th largest chain in DeFi, with over $325 million in Total Value Locked (TVL) across applications.The biggest applications in the NEAR ecosystem include Ref Finance (decentralized exchange), Burrow (crypto lending protocol), Meta Pool (liquid staking), and LINEAR Protocol (liquid staking). In the NFT segment, NEAR’s ecosystem boasts applications ranging from marketplaces (e.g., Paras, Few, & FAR) to creator platforms (e.g., Satori).

Pocket’s Integration with NEAR Supercharges the Ecosystem

In May, Pocket integrated with NEAR to enable its ecosystem stakeholders to take advantage of the new era of decentralized RPC networks.Developers working with NEAR, one of the fastest growing Layer 1 networks, can now utilize Pocket to handle their data relay requests and benefit from true decentralization, 100% uptime, low latency, and low costs for their applications.If you’re a developer, you can start building with an efficient cost structure, low environmental impact, and scalability with NEAR and Pocket. Get an endpoint and start servicing your NEAR data relays on the Pocket Portal here.If you’re a node runner, you can start servicing these relays and earning POKT as rewards. Find out more here.