NEAR Protocol
Crypto Overview
Purpose and Utility
NEAR Protocol is a layer-1 blockchain platform designed to be user-friendly and scalable. It uses a sharding mechanism called Nightshade to improve transaction processing and reduce costs. The NEAR token serves multiple purposes: paying for transaction fees, staking for network security, and governance participation.
Business Model and Implementation
The platform focuses on providing infrastructure for decentralized applications (dApps), supporting smart contracts, and facilitating cross-chain interoperability. The ecosystem includes NFT marketplaces, decentralized finance applications, and Web3 development tools. NEAR's business model is transparent and based on legitimate technological utility.
Real-World Adoption
NEAR has established significant partnerships with organizations like Chainlink, Figment, and Aurora. The ecosystem hosts hundreds of active projects, including Paras (NFT marketplace), Ref Finance (DEX), and Burrow (lending protocol). Developer activity remains strong with regular updates and improvements to the protocol.
Token Distribution
The initial token distribution allocated 17.2% to core contributors with a 4-year vesting period, 14% to early ecosystem building, and 11.7% to foundation reserves. The remaining tokens were distributed through various community sales and ecosystem development funds. The vesting schedules and lock-up periods demonstrate a long-term commitment to the project.
Development Activity
NEAR maintains active development with regular GitHub commits and protocol upgrades. The ecosystem continues to expand with new applications and integrations. The focus appears to be on technological advancement rather than pure marketing.
Crypto Impact
To assign a comfort level investing in NEAR Protocol from a halal perspective we need to determine whether it has a net positive or negative impact.
Towards this end, the table below is used to tally all the positive and negative considerations our members can think of related to NEAR Protocol.
If you don’t see something that should be listed, positive or negative, feel free to submit your own contribution using the button “Contribute”.
We will review your contribution for accuracy before publication.
Importantly, you can review listed contributions and vote on which one you think has the greatest impact, positive or negative.
You only have one vote per asset so use it wisely.
You can change your vote if you change your mind.