NEAR Protocol (NEAR) is the native asset of its own Layer-1 blockchain, the NEAR Protocol chain, which uses sharding called "Nightshade" to process transactions in parallel.
Founded in 2018 by Illia Polosukhin and Alexander Skidanov, the network's mainnet ("MainNet Phase 0") launched April 22, 2020, with token transfers unlocked by validator vote in October 2020. NEAR is not an EVM or Solana token and is not issued on top of another chain.
NEAR differentiates itself through Nightshade sharding for parallel transaction processing and an active push into AI-agent infrastructure. This includes FIPS-204 post-quantum-safe signing and a "Staking Pay" feature that lets users stake NEAR to cover AI-inference costs.
As of 2026-08-30, the network processes about 158,381 daily active addresses generating roughly $121,811.65 in daily gross fees. A "NEAR Intents" mechanism now directs 100% of its fees into open-market NEAR purchases, tying real usage directly to token demand.
NEAR functions as both a utility and staking token. Holders stake NEAR with validators to secure the network and earn rewards, use it to pay gas fees for transactions and smart-contract execution, and can lock it via "Staking Pay" to cover AI-agent inference costs.
About 598.8 million NEAR is currently staked across the network, described as broadly distributed with no single dominant validator.
NEAR launched with a genesis supply of 1 billion tokens created at mainnet launch on April 22, 2020. Circulating supply is 1,305,064,160 NEAR as of 2026-08-31, with no hard maximum supply cap — issuance remains uncapped.
Net emission is inflationary, partially offset by burns and buybacks.
NEAR raised funding through multiple private rounds and a public token sale before mainnet launch. Early rounds included a ~$12.1 million private raise in July 2019 and a $21.6 million token sale led by Andreessen Horowitz with roughly 40 other firms in May 2020, followed by a public ICO that closed August 13, 2020, raising $10 million at $0.40 per token.
Mainnet genesis occurred April 22, 2020, creating 1 billion NEAR, with transfers unlocked by validator vote in October 2020. Larger post-mainnet rounds of $150 million and $350 million followed, alongside an $800 million ecosystem fund announced October 2021.
NEAR runs on its own Layer-1 blockchain, the NEAR Protocol chain, using proof-of-stake consensus combined with "Nightshade" sharding for parallel transaction processing.
The network is secured by 698 validators, with the top 100 by stake producing blocks and chunks. Validator entry is permissionless, subject to a minimum stake of 25,500 NEAR.
NEAR Protocol was founded in 2018 by Illia Polosukhin and Alexander Skidanov. Polosukhin is a former Google machine-learning researcher and TensorFlow contributor who co-authored the original "Transformer" architecture underlying modern large language models, and serves as CEO of the NEAR Foundation.
Skidanov began his career at Microsoft in 2009 after winning a gold medal at ACM ICPC 2008, then joined MemSQL (now SingleStore) in 2011 as its first engineer.
The NEAR Foundation, a non-profit established in 2019, supports growth of the NEAR ecosystem and oversees treasury and grant programs.
It operates alongside ecosystem entities such as Proximity Labs, which managed a $350 million DeFi-focused fund, and Pagoda, a former core-development company associated with NEAR.
NEAR governance combines validator-based on-chain participation with significant NEAR Foundation influence over protocol direction. 698 validators participate in consensus, and governance votes have driven recent tokenomics changes.
Recent development centers on post-quantum security and AI-agent infrastructure. NEAR shipped FIPS-204 post-quantum-safe signing around August 2026, following a June 2026 testnet upgrade ("2.13") that introduced post-quantum-safe access keys.
Halborn and CertiK, both established smart-contract auditors, are active across the NEAR ecosystem and have audited individual applications such as Stader Labs' NEARx liquid-staking contracts.
At genesis, roughly half of the original 1 billion NEAR supply was allocated to backers, core contributors, and the Foundation combined.