Liquid Staking: Unlocking the Potential of Staked Tokens
Liquid staking enables token holders to unlock the value of their staked assets without waiting for the staking period to end.
Following up on our previous article regarding Blockchain Development: The Solana Ecosystem, we will be showcasing NEAR Protocol and its ecosystem. NEAR offers a collective, a foundation and a blockchain. The mix of offerings allows for developers to create sustainable, cost-effective and secured dApps on the NEAR blockchain. We will deep dive into what can be achieved with NEAR protocol and why users should build on it. Not only that, but we will tap into some of the already existing leading custody providers, wallets, and applications that are integrating with the NEAR network.
NEAR Protocol is a layer-one blockchain that was designed as a community-based on a cloud computing platform and that eliminates some of the limitations that have been bothering competing blockchains. Such include low transaction speeds, low throughput and poor scalability. This provides the perfect environment for dApps. Consequently, creating a developer and user-friendly platform. For instance, NEAR uses human-readable account names, as opposed to the cryptographic wallet addresses such as Ethereum. $NEAR also introduces unique solutions to scaling problems and has its own consensus mechanism called “Doomslug.”
Also, NEAR offers a multi-chain future to its users. NEAR runs in concert with Ethereum, Polkadot, Cosmos, and more, allowing for the free flow of assets and communication between networks for the betterment of all. Not only that, but the protocol offers scalable solutions. The protocol eliminates the barriers to Web3 adoption. With high speeds, low fees, and progressive UX, NEAR’s climate-neutral blockchain is ready for explosive growth.
One of the most successful projects built on NEAR is called Flux. Flux is a protocol that allows developers to create markets based on assets, commodities, real-world events, and Mintbase, an NFT minting platform. Therefore, Flux is a great example of what can be achieved with Near.
Benefits of Near
NEAR uses its Nightshade technology to improve transaction throughput massively. Nightshade is a variation of sharding, in which individual sets of validators process transactions in parallel across multiple sharded chains, improving the overall capacity of the blockchain. In contrast to “regular” sharding, shards in Nightshade produce a fraction of the next block, called “chunks.” In doing so, NEAR Protocol is able to achieve up to 100,000 transactions per second and achieve near-instant transaction finality thanks to a one-second block cadence while simultaneously keeping transaction fees at virtually zero.
NEAR Protocol also improves upon the convoluted onboarding process of other blockchains by having human-readable addresses and building decentralized applications with similar registration flow to what users have already experienced. Moreover, it provides developers with modular components, helping them start projects like token contracts or NFTs more efficiently and faster than ever before.
NEAR Token
Here you can find important information regarding the Near Token - $NEAR.
Near Blockchain
This paragraph will showcase some of the most popular DeFi wallets connected to the Solana ecosystem. If you are not familiar with DeFi wallets, then go ahead and check out our previous article on DeFi Wallets.
One of the most popular NEAR wallets is the Near Wallet.
Near Wallet is a wallet used to store NEAR coins and NEP21 token standards supported on the Near blockchain platform. You can send and receive NEAR and NEP21 tokens as well as interact with applications on this platform through the Near wallet. In particular, this wallet is owned by you, no one has the right to influence or use the wallet other than you.
Near wallet has 2 extremely important pieces of information you must note:
Guarda Wallet
Guarda wallet was launched only a few years ago, in 2017. The group of highly experienced specialists is focusing on creating blockchain-related products ever since then. When it comes to Guarda crypto wallet, the main aim was to create a digital wallet that could provide users with complete security, effortless crypto storing and easy asset management. Since the company respects your anonymity, they do not store your backup files, private keys, or any other data that could threaten your security. Even though it has been only a few years since the wallet was created, the company has come a long way. At first, they started with a single currency wallet, then added the web version, iOS and Android versions, created a token generator and so much more. Guarda supports more than 40 coins and thousands of tokens including ERC20s, BEP-2, and other popular assets. The number is pretty high compared to some other cryptocurrency wallets.
Math Wallet
MathWallet is a multi-platform (mobile/desktop/extension/hardware) universal crypto wallet that enables storage of all BTC, ETH/ERC20, NEO/NEP5, EOS, TRON, ONT/ONG, ENU/Telos/EOSC/BOS, BinanceChain, Cosmos, VeChain, and Polkadot tokens. Math Wallet also features cross-chain token exchanges, a multi-chain DApp store and operates nodes for PoS chain. Our investors includes Fenbushi, FundamentalLabs.
Wondering what is the best NFT Marketplace?
Paras
Pluminite
Mintbase
Snark Art
Shroom Kingdom - the first play-to-earn video game built with web technologies running on the NEAR Protocol Blockchain. Other watch-worthy projects include OPGames, ZedRun, Near Lands, etc.
Rainbow Bridge
The fully-functional NEAR — ETH rainbow bridge. It enables the transfer of any token, NFT, or asset between the NEAR and Ethereum blockchains. Total assets issued on Rainbow Bridge from Sep 27th to Oct 3rd, 2021 increased 10.16% compared to the previous week.
Blockchain bridges are important for DeFi development specifically and for any ecosystem in general. They create asset flows and interoperability between blockchains. Rainbow Bridge enables users to transfer digital assets from Ethereum - a blockchain that holds significant value to Near - the one that is developing its DeFi ecosystem and in need of additional liquidity. It is also excited to see SOL <> NEAR and BSC <> NEAR bridges that are under development currently.
Octopus Network
A sidechain network to bootstrap and run Web3.0 application-specific blockchains, aka appchains. The Octopus Network launched its mainnet in September and its first appchain on October 8th. When Octopus runs in its full capacity, 30-50 appchains will be launched in the network annually.
Aurora - an EVM built on the NEAR Protocol, aims for full compatibility with Ethereum development tools. Aurora launched its validator on NEAR and started charging delegators with 9% fees to ensure transactions remain free for users. The fee will be adjusted over time according to the amount of the delegated funds.
Ref.Finance is the premier bluechip DeFi project of the NEAR Ecosystem. Combining best practices built into the NEAR Protocol, with a value-focused design of the core platform, Ref.Finance is a stack of DeFi services and products built around a core AMM.
The first product Ref.Finance is launching is a novel AMM built on NEAR, similar in design to Uniswap. The nature of the $REF token, the governance of the Ref DAO, and the core services offered by Ref to projects in and beyond the NEAR Ecosystem, are all harmoniously integrated with the core functionality of this underlying AMM.
Flux, ChainLink, and Band Protocol are oracles that provide smart contracts with access to off-chain data feeds. Services from both ChainLink and Band Protocol have not mainnet on Near yet and Flux Protocol is the first oracle originally developed on NEAR Protocol at this moment.
What is a DAO? In short, a DAO, or decentralized autonomous organization, is a system that allows people to govern themselves. Because its governance is decentralized, it operates more efficiently than traditional systems. At present, most DAOs are based and operate on the Ethereum Blockchain, however, there are other examples as well and we will be showcasing them from Solana's ecosystem.
Here is a list of the top three most interesting DAOs, on the NEAR blockchain:
If you enjoyed reading this article and would like to learn more about DeFi and build your own DeFi project or receive blockchain consulting, then please feel free to contact our team of elite developers who can help you achieve great results and become the pioneer of our future. Also, if you would like to learn more about the services our company offers, then definitely check out the Services page.
For more related articles feel free to scroll down this page or visit our designated Blog page which will keep you up-to-date with the latest trends in the web3 world.