The NEAR decentralized application (DApp) protocol is releasing a new blockchain operating system, focused on improving the user experience on Web3 through a common layer for browsing and discovering open web resources, the company announced at Web3 and the ETHDenver 2023 innovation festival.
In an interview with Turner Wright of Cointelegraph during the event, NEAR founder Illia Polosukhin talked about how the ecosystem is approaching the needs of users and the release of the Blockchain Operating System (BOS).
According to the NEAR team, the system works with blockchains or Web2 backends, allowing users to have a single application experience, even when switching between applications or chains. For developers, the solution promises to deliver a decentralized and composite frontend, enabling pieces and components, and built-in such as payments, profiles, and notifications without hosting.
Polosukhin notes about the blockchain operating system:
“IOS gives developers a place to show their apps in front of billions of users, and gives all the services and infrastructure below to build, so you kind of just plug in here. That’s what we’re trying to do. try to give distribution here, give the platform below and let the developer build it.
The protocol, which is an Ethereum competitor that offers smart contracts and proof-of-stake blockchain, is seeking 10x growth in key metrics last year, including the number of transactions, active monthly wallets, installed projects, developers and money invested in the ecosystem, claimed to be a co-founder.
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“A lot of projects just moved to NEAR,” noted Polosukhin about last year’s growth, combined with efforts to find existing applications with a user base:
“They came to us, some because they saw that you can write in JavaScript smart contracts. It’s like three times cheaper to hire a developer. It’s just more usable not only for users, but also for developers.”
Unchain funds
Polosukhin is also one of the developers behind the Unchain Fund, a fundraising effort created last year to help Ukrainians affected by the war. As of early 2023, the fund has generated more than $9 million in donations, almost entirely in crypto assets.
According to him, the collected funds are very important to support the people of Ukraine in the first week of the war, when international aid is still being provided urgently:
“The Red Cross, UNICEF, it takes months to get the whole system rolling when something like this happens. They’re slow. […] but when they get there, they have a procedure, and they set it up, they build a supply chain, logistics, and then they can start delivering. So, in a way, crypto funds are protected in the beginning, just like the spin-up period for the same government aid.
Part of the funds collected is used for a program dedicated to women with children who have run away from home, providing a weekly payment of 25 euros to approximately 6,000 Ukrainian women. The funds were also used to purchase ambulances through the United24 global initiative.