NEAR Protocol: The Blueprint for the Open Web

NEAR Protocol Deep Dive

Money is changing.

The core tenets underpinning crypto and the open web are:

• Decentralized; therefore open and permissionless

• User-owned, enabling sovereignty

• Interoperable, seamlessly connected

The 1st philosophy was actualized by Satoshi in 2008. Bitcoin, a peer-to-peer, decentralized, permissionless cash system was established.

Bitcoin also enabled user-owned digital assets, but fell short in that you could basically just own BTC. Years later, with the launch of Ethereum and DeFi, sovereignty has been enabled for those that wish to acquire it - users can be their own bank, execute their own financial transactions without the permission of a bank or central authority, and truly own a wide range of tokenized assets. In tandem, the user experience has improved dramatically - it’s now much easier to interact with crypto than it has ever been.

We haven’t reached full permissionless yet, nor have we unlocked sovereignty as a standard for the world (try using a DeFi app in the United States without worrying about geoblocking or offboarding), but each year these problems are being solved.

The next step, according to this story, is to make the open web connected. Enable permissionless applications - not just finance, but with any app. Social media apps, food delivery apps, marketplace apps, all of them. Bring the ownership of platforms and data back to the user.

One beauty of crypto is the ability to facilitate the creation of the open web, and NEAR’s vision is to become the fully sovereign operating system advancing the open web. NEAR is building technology that enables user self-sovereignty, giving more users access to the open web and even providing the infrastructure:

“Creating new opportunities for people via self-sovereignty is what NEAR is about. Complete self-sovereignty has been the NEAR vision since day one: we want to build a world where all people can control their own assets, data, and power of governance. This sovereignty must apply not only at the level of individuals but also the organizations and communities they create, and eventually societies.”

— Illia Polosukhin, A Vision for Our Ecosystem

By the end of this article, you will understand:

• NEAR’s vision

• The tech NEAR employs to push their multitude of products & services forward

• NEAR’s backers & funding history

• Top protocols on NEAR

• NEAR DeFi strategies