[Crypto projects](https://revain.org/projects/) › NEAR Protocol

# NEAR Protocol (NEAR): how it works, supply and reviews

## In short

- **Type**: Sharded layer-1 blockchain; accounts are distributed across shards
- **Initial supply**: About 1 billion NEAR at genesis (24 decimal places)
- **Risks and caveats**: NEAR has no fixed maximum supply: about 2.5% of total supply is issued each year as rewards, offset only by fee burns.
- **Checked**: 31 October 2026

## Key facts

- **Ticker**: NEAR
- **Official site**: [near.org](https://www.near.org/)

Key facts checked on 31 October 2026 against official sources.

## What is NEAR Protocol

NEAR Protocol is a sharded proof-of-stake blockchain for smart-contract applications, in which accounts are spread across parallel shards. NEAR is its native token, used for transaction fees, on-chain storage and staking.

## Network and consensus

| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Type | Sharded layer-1 blockchain; accounts are distributed across shards |
| Consensus | Proof of stake; each block needs approvals from block producers holding over two thirds of their stake |
| Block time | About 0.6 seconds; epochs of 43,200 blocks (about 7.2 hours) |
| Validators | 500 validator seats; the top 100 produce blocks and chunks, the rest validate chunks |
| Smart contracts | Yes; contracts are deployed to accounts and written with Rust or JavaScript/TypeScript SDKs |
| Launched | Current mainnet genesis on 21 July 2020 |

## Supply and issuance

| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Initial supply | About 1 billion NEAR at genesis (24 decimal places) |
| Issuance | Yearly reward budget of 2.5% of total supply; 10% of it goes to the protocol treasury |
| Inflation change | Maximum inflation was cut from 5% to 2.5% by a protocol upgrade backed in October 2025 |
| Fee burn | Transaction fees collected in each epoch are burned |
| Unlocks | NEAR states that its token supply is fully unlocked |

## What NEAR is used for

- Paying gas for transactions
- Covering on-chain storage through storage staking
- Staking and delegating to validators to secure the network

## Who develops and governs NEAR Protocol

- **Founders**: Illia Polosukhin and Alexander Skidanov, in 2018
- **Governance**: House of Stake coordinates protocol upgrades, economic parameters and treasury decisions
- **Foundation**: NEAR Foundation supports community proposals with research and communications
- **Protocol upgrades**: Upgrades take effect only once 80% of block-producer stake adopts them
- **Open source**: nearcore is the reference implementation of NEAR Protocol on GitHub

## History

| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 2018 | Illia Polosukhin and Alexander Skidanov found NEAR Protocol. |
| 21 July 2020 | Genesis of the current NEAR mainnet, with about 1 billion NEAR. |
| 2021 | Rainbow Bridge to Ethereum and the Aurora EVM environment launch; the ecosystem reaches one million accounts. |
| November 2023 | NEAR DA launches for rollup data availability. |
| 2024 | Chain Signatures ship to mainnet; NEAR Intents follows in beta in November. |
| 21 October 2025 | NEAR Foundation backs the halving upgrade cutting maximum inflation from 5% to 2.5%. |

## Security and audits

- An attacker would need validators holding more than two thirds of block-producer stake to produce blocks alone.
- NEAR does not slash staked tokens; underperforming validators lose rewards and can be removed from the set.

## Security incidents

Further incidents are reported by third parties (press, incident databases) but are not confirmed in the company’s own channels, so they are not listed here.

## Risks and caveats

- NEAR has no fixed maximum supply: about 2.5% of total supply is issued each year as rewards, offset only by fee burns.
- If block producers holding one third or more of stake stop approving, the chain stops producing blocks.
- Tokenomics can change through protocol upgrades adopted by validators, as with the 2025 inflation cut.

## Official links

- Website: [www.near.org](https://www.near.org/)
- Docs: [docs.near.org](https://docs.near.org/)
- Whitepaper: [www.near.org/near-white-paper](https://www.near.org/near-white-paper)
- Source code: [github.com/near/nearcore](https://github.com/near/nearcore)
- Blog: [www.near.org/blog](https://www.near.org/blog)

## Questions and answers

**What is NEAR Protocol?**

NEAR is a sharded proof-of-stake blockchain for smart-contract applications. Its native token NEAR pays for gas, storage and staking.

**Who created NEAR?**

Illia Polosukhin and Alexander Skidanov founded NEAR Protocol in 2018.

**What is the supply of NEAR?**

There is no fixed cap. Genesis supply was about 1 billion NEAR; the mainnet RPC reported about 1.31 billion NEAR on 31 October 2026.

**What is NEAR's inflation?**

The yearly reward budget is 2.5% of total supply, after an upgrade backed in October 2025 halved maximum inflation from 5%.

**Does NEAR slash staked tokens?**

No. Validators that are offline or underperform lose rewards and can be removed from the validator set.

## Sources

- [NEAR Docs — Architecture](https://docs.near.org/protocol/network/architecture)
- [NEAR Docs — Tokens](https://docs.near.org/protocol/network/tokens)
- [NEAR Docs — Validators](https://docs.near.org/protocol/network/validators)
- [NEAR Docs — Epoch](https://docs.near.org/protocol/network/epoch)
- [NEAR Docs — Gas](https://docs.near.org/protocol/transactions/gas)
- [NEAR — Roadmap history](https://www.near.org/roadmap-history)
- [NEAR blog — What is NEAR Protocol](https://www.near.org/blog/what-is-near-protocol)
- [NEAR blog — Evolving NEAR tokenomics](https://www.near.org/blog/evolving-near-tokenomics)
- [NEAR blog — Halving inflation proposals](https://www.near.org/blog/supporting-community-proposals-to-upgrade-near-tokenomics-halving-inflation-and-introducing-rewards-to-support-small-validators-and-venear-holders)
- [nearcore README (GitHub)](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/near/nearcore/master/README.md)
- [NEAR mainnet RPC — genesis config and latest block](https://rpc.mainnet.near.org)

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Page updated: 2026-10-31

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Source: https://revain.org/projects/near/