Since its emergence, blockchain technology has provided a broad platform for a variety of services related to digital currencies, including smart contracts. Today, there are several blockchains that support smart contracts, perhaps the most famous being Ethereum, Stellar, Polkadata, and IAS.
However, each of these blockchains has problems such as vulnerability to hacker attacks, privacy, slow speed, and issues related to consensus mechanisms. In the meantime, NIR protocol has been launched with the aim of solving these problems. A self-proclaimed competitor to Ethereum, Nir is an open-source proof-of-stake protocol that provides a platform for smart contracts and decentralized applications.
In this article, we want to review the NIR protocol, how it works and its history, its innovations and new technologies, and how to buy and hold its token. If you are also eager to learn more about this innovative blockchain, stay with us until the end of the article.
What is NEAR Protocol?
Nir (NEAR) is one of the Proof of Stake (PoS) protocols that has been launched with the aim of providing smart contracts and accelerating the development of decentralized applications (dApp). This protocol is known as a competitor to Ethereum and other smart contract blockchains such as Polkadot and EOS. The NEAR token, the native currency of the NEAR protocol, can be used to pay transaction fees or storage fees on the platform. Also, those who participate in the consensus process as validators can use this token for staking.
Nair Protocol focuses more on building a developer-oriented and user-friendly platform. For this purpose, the mentioned protocol has provided features such as readable names instead of encrypted addresses for accounts and the ability to interact with decentralized applications and smart contracts without the need for a wallet. Various projects on the Nair platform carry out development and application building activities. Examples of these projects are Mintbase, a platform for creating non-traditional tokens (NFT) and Flux, a platform for creating markets for various commodities.
Nair uses sharding technology to reduce the computing load. Technologies such as Nightshade and Dynamic Re-Sharding have also been used to help with this goal. With NIR, developers no longer have to worry about choosing between this protocol or Ethereum and can work on both at the same time. In the rest of the article, we will talk more about the technologies used in NIR.
NEAR has a native token with the same name (NEAR), which is the main tool of exchange and the unit for calculating transaction fees in this protocol. Since Neer’s consensus algorithm is a proof-of-stake protocol, the verification of transactions in it is the responsibility of validators who have invested in this blockchain. Validators receive 4.5% of the annual NIR token supply for each period of their activity. Developers who create smart contracts also share in the transaction fees related to the contracts they create. The rest of the transaction fees are also burned with the aim of controlling the supply of Nair tokens.
NIR protocol supports Wrapped tokens of other digital currencies and other tokens as well. This protocol has also built a bridge to the Ethereum blockchain and made it possible to exchange ERC-20 standard tokens between the two blockchains.
How does NIR protocol work?
NIR protocol can be considered as the “first layer” of blockchain like Ethereum, Cardano, and Tron; That is, the foundation on which other applications are built and used. We said that one of NIR’s technologies to increase network throughput is “Nightshade”. This technology divides validators into different sets that process transactions in parallel across multiple sharded chains to increase the capacity of the entire blockchain.
Nightshade is somehow different from the sharding systems of other blockchains, and the difference is that in each shard, a part of the next block is created, which is called a chunk. These chunks are processed and immutably stored in the Nair blockchain to finalize the transactions in them.
Nair has a contract-based user account model that allows developers to build advanced software for these accounts. These softwares can sign transactions on behalf of users and enable the implementation of agreements without the need for the physical presence of the user. NIR, as a new and advanced protocol, uses special technologies that we will mention below.
Dynamic resharding (Dynamic Re-Sharding)
There are two ways to solve the scalability problem in blockchain: Horizontal segmentation (Horizontal Partitioning) and Vertical segmentation (Vertical Partitioning). Nair from Sharding It uses a horizontal scaling technique.
Sharding increases the scalability of databases by distributing computing and storage capacity among different servers. In the world of blockchains, the sharding method is applied in such a way that each blockchain is divided into subgroups of nodes. Processing of transactions and creation of blocks is done by several sub-chains in parallel. It should be mentioned that currently sharding in NIR protocol is not fully active and only its first phase has been implemented recently.
When sharding in NIR is fully activated, the network will regularly adjust and adjust the number of shards based on user demand; For this reason, this variable and demand-driven method for scaling is called “dynamic resharding”. This approach allows the network to pay only for the infrastructure and scale that is needed at that point in time. Dynamic resharding is a cost-effective approach to network scalability and security; Because the storage requirements of the nodes can be coordinated with the demand.
Read more: What is sharding? A way to improve scalability
nightshade (Nightshade)
NIR uses a new approach called Nightshade to reach consensus and settle inter-shard transactions. Most sharded networks from A small validation group They use the main proposer to select a new block on a rotating basis to validate intershard transactions.
This approach creates problems in the validation process; For example, validation groups should either download the entire state of each shard or only receive the part that has changed. This validation process is inefficient for both modes; Because the first requires more time and the second requires a larger situation.
Nightshade offers a different model by changing the common perception of sharding. Based on Nightshade’s approach, each shard works to produce chunks that together form a block. Blocks are generated regularly and it doesn’t matter if each shard has generated its own chunks for the same block number or not.
Nightshade is a leader-based system; That is, it assigns the task of producing each block to a validator. This validator must collect and assemble the chunks produced by each shard in its leadership period into a block. Leadership assignments are assigned to members of the validation committee on a rotating basis. Importantly, validators only validate chunks, not transactions.
DoomSlug
Second, Slug is a new technique for generating blocks in NIR protocol. According to the development team, this technique enables the network to achieve a degree of practical finalization after a period of communication. Also, a finality gadget (Finality Gadget) after the second period of network communication to certainty Byzantine fault tolerance (BFT) delivers.
Practical certainty in the second slug (second slug certainty) is achieved when the block in question becomes irreversible; unless one of the contributors to its production is removed. As long as more than half of the validator pool is online and behaving honestly, Doomslug will continue to generate and finalize blocks. If the number of online participants reaches less than two-thirds, the finalization gadget stops.
reward Developers Nair protocol from the place of fees
The NIR protocol allocates 30% of the transaction fee to the contracts that the transaction in question is interacting with. The contract owner, often a developer group or DAO, can determine how these funds are allocated. These fee-based rewards make the app better developed in Nir. The percentage of commission allocated to this reward is a system parameter; But developers are free to charge any amount equal to or more than the minimum amount.
Storage space suitable for mtoken existence
NEAR token holders have the right to store data on the NEAR blockchain. For example, if someone has one unit of NEAR token, they can store about 10 KB of data in their account. This model is similar to bank accounts where you must have a certain minimum balance to have an account. The mentioned model allows important contracts to pay verifiers according to the amount of data they keep, to ensure the security of this data.
History and production team No protocol
Nair was a machine learning project before it became a platform for blockchain development. In 2017, Illia Polosukhin and Alexander Skidanov started the NEAR.ai project to explore the area of Program Synthesis. The name of Nair’s project is taken from the science fiction novel “The Singularity Is Near”. Nair benefited from Polosukhin’s experience in Google’s TensorFlow project and Skidanov as a senior engineer in Microsoft’s MemSQL project.
Research focused on Program Synthesis led Nair’s team to investigate programmable smart contract platforms and cryptocurrency payments in late 2017 and early 2018. By examining the space of blockchain solutions and testing different protocols, Nair’s team realized that the current state of this technology does not meet its needs; Therefore, he started designing a blockchain that would meet their needs.
The Nair Foundation designed and developed the Nair Blockchain. The mainnet version of the blockchain was launched in April 2020, and the network’s validators voted to release token transfers on the network in October 2020. The bridge between Nir and Ethereum called Rainbow Bridge was implemented in March 2021 and Erik Trautman was also elected as the CEO of Nir Foundation.
Project investors No protocol
Several companies and investment funds have invested in Nair protocol, some of them are:
- Blockchain.com Ventures
- CoinFund
- Coinbase Ventures
- Dragonfly Capital
- Fundamental Labs
- Homebrew
- IDEO Colab research and development company
- MetaStable Capital
- Multicoin Capital
- Pantera Capital (focused on tokens and projects related to blockchain and digital currencies)
- Xpring (from Ripple functions, blockchain infrastructure developer)
- a16z crypto (investment arm of Andreessen Horowitz company in blockchain and digital currencies)
Each of these companies and funds have invested in numerous projects and blockchains, and Nair protocol has been able to gain their trust due to the appropriate vision it has drawn.
Nair protocol wallets
NEAR Wallet
All digital currencies require a wallet for storage. Some of these currencies, such as Nir, have their own bridge wallets in addition to public wallets that support the storage of various digital currencies. Next, we will review the Nair wallet and other wallets that support it.
This wallet is made by the team Nir and is almost the best option for NEAR token storage. By registering on the Nir website, you can easily create a Nir wallet. Also, you can install the NEAR application on the ledger hardware wallet and manage your NEAR tokens. This program is also developed and supported by Nair development team. On Nair website, you can create an account with both mobile number and email. At the same time, the possibility of two-step verification is also provided in this wallet.
Ledger Nano X
Ledger is one of the wallets that supports the NEAR token and is considered a safe and desirable option. The use of this hardware wallet is also recommended on Nair’s website. Ledger is a so-called cold and very secure wallet that is used to store many digital assets. If you keep a large amount of digital currencies, the best option for you is a hardware wallet. Ledge Nano X is better than its predecessor, Ledge Nano S, and offers more features.
Trust Wallet
TrustVault wallet also supports NIR token. Many users use the TrustWallet wallet and the reason for that is the many features of this wallet. You can buy digital currencies inside the wallet application; This means that this wallet also acts as an exchange. It even has the option of storing NFTs. Not to mention, by storing digital currencies in this wallet, you also get profit.
Guarda
The Garda wallet supports many digital currencies and provides the possibility of integration with ledger hardware wallets and backups. By investing digital currencies in this wallet, you can get up to 40% annual profit. Also, it is possible to exchange currency in the Garda wallet. Garda is relatively safe thanks to MultiSig.
buy straw protocol
If you intend to buy NIR protocol and invest in this digital currency, the best way is to use Iranian exchanges. Identity authentication in these exchanges is free for Iranians and it is possible to directly convert Rials into digital currency.
Also, since NIR is a popular network protocol and relatively long time has passed since its release, it is listed in most Iranian exchanges.
To see prominent Iranian exchanges that support NIR and also to find the best NIR purchase rate, refer to the NIR protocol purchase guide page. On this page, select the option I want to buy NIR protocol and set the amount to see the list of exchanges that support this coin in order of the best purchase rate.
After viewing all exchanges and selecting an exchange, click on the buy option at the end of the exchange name to be redirected to the exchange’s home page. If you have already authenticated at the desired exchange, you can convert your Rial to Naira within a few minutes. But if you haven’t gone through the authentication process, you need to do it first.
This feature also helps users to find exchanges with the best selling rates. For this, it is enough to select the option I want to sell NIR protocol to see the list of exchanges in order of the best selling rate. It is clear that in order to sell digital currency in an exchange, both registration and authentication are required.
The price of Nair
Nir Token initially entered the market at a price of around $1 and in the first few months, it experienced a price of around $8 and then returned to the same channel of $1. At its highest price ceiling in D1400, Nair reached more than 20 dollars. The current price (November 4) of this token is in the range of $3 and in the past few months, like most other digital currencies, it has faced a decrease. Needless to say, Nair digital currency is among the top 30 digital currencies in terms of market value.
Conclusion
Now we know what Nair protocol is and for what purpose it has entered the world of blockchain and digital currencies. In this article, we said that Nair is going to become a unique platform for smart contracts and decentralized applications. Nair has not been unsuccessful in this direction and in its almost two years of life, it has been able to attract many investors, developers, users and traders.
The growth of the Nir token price made this protocol more attractive from the trading aspect, and many users turned to buying and selling the Nir token and sharing it. Nair has big goals and, like many other projects, it aims to solve blockchain scalability issues.
It will take more time to understand how successful Nair will be in achieving this goal. However, it must be acknowledged that the technologies used by Nair for sharding and storage are Nair’s strong arm in achieving its goals and cannot be easily overlooked. Nair protocol seems to be one of those projects that we can hope for in the future.
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