Question: What is NEAR — and what exactly are you buying when you “invest in NEAR”?

Answer: You are buying the NEAR token — a network asset used for fees, staking, and the “resource economy” within NEAR Protocol. Its price reflects the market’s assessment of future demand for network usage and investors’ expectations.

Question: What does NEAR’s long-term value as an investment depend on?

Answer: On whether the network’s real utility grows: users, applications, volumes, fees, developer activity — plus the sustainability of tokenomics (emission/burn/incentives) and market trust in governance and the ecosystem.

Question: How important is the Foundation’s role in the NEAR ecosystem?

Answer: It is significant: grants, development priorities, communication, and parts of infrastructure decision-making are often tied to the NEAR Foundation and related structures. This is a plus (coordination), but also a risk (conflicts of interest and a perceived “top-down” approach).

What is NEAR (NEAR)

NEAR is the native token of the Near Protocol (L1) Proof-of-Stake blockchain with Nightshade sharding, designed for fast, low-cost transactions and easy dApp deployment.

Launch 22.04.2020 NEAR (native L1)

Who created it

Illia Polosukhin, Alexander Skidanov

Why it was created

The NEAR token was created as the “fuel” and economic mechanism of the NEAR Protocol blockchain: so the network can scale, remain secure, and maintain a clear “resource economy” (compute/storage), while financially incentivising participants to support and develop the ecosystem.

How it’s used

Paying network fees for transactions and smart-contract execution
Paying for/securing on-chain storage in the network (storage)
Staking to help secure the network and earn rewards
Transferring value between accounts and applications within the NEAR ecosystem

Risks

Insufficient network demand risk: if dApps/users do not grow, token value (fees/activity) may fail to meet expectations
L1/L2 competition risk: NEAR’s investment case can lose out to “stronger narratives” and ecosystems even with solid technology
Tokenomics/inflation risk: emissions and incentives can dilute holders if real NEAR demand does not offset new supply
Unlock/vesting risk: large unlocks for early participants/funds/grants can create sustained sell pressure for months
Staking centralisation risk: validator/delegation concentration reduces trust in “decentralisation” and increases political risk
Governance risk: parameter changes (rewards, fee economics, rules) may be passed in favour of an active minority of stake
Foundation influence risk: the NEAR Foundation’s role (treasury, grants, priorities) may be perceived as centralisation and a source of conflicts of interest

FAQ

Question: What is NEAR — and what exactly are you buying when you “invest in NEAR”?: Answer: You are buying the NEAR token — a network asset used for fees, staking, and the “resource economy” within NEAR Protocol. Its price reflects the market’s assessment of future demand for network usage and investors’ expectations.
Question: What does NEAR’s long-term value as an investment depend on?: Answer: On whether the network’s real utility grows: users, applications, volumes, fees, developer activity — plus the sustainability of tokenomics (emission/burn/incentives) and market trust in governance and the ecosystem.
Question: How important is the Foundation’s role in the NEAR ecosystem?: Answer: It is significant: grants, development priorities, communication, and parts of infrastructure decision-making are often tied to the NEAR Foundation and related structures. This is a plus (coordination), but also a risk (conflicts of interest and a perceived “top-down” approach).