We know that the cryptocurrency market is a jungle for new investors because of its high volatility. However, investors are not the only ones who have it rough when they join the market. There are cases where cryptocurrencies compete aggressively with one another – trying to surpass their competition by any means. We can take the competitiveness of Ripple and Stellar as an example, with both cryptocurrencies trying to expand their network and their partnerships with financial institutions more than the other.
On the contrary, there are many cryptocurrencies that cooperate with one another, creating a friendly environment and helping each other improve in many aspects. One example would be the cryptocurrencies that serve as Layer 2 solutions like OMG Network helping Ethereum solve its scalability problems. This cooperation between different cryptos is often considered a win-win situation for all the parties.
The crypto that we will discuss today belongs to this friendly group of cryptocurrencies. This cryptocurrency goes by the name of NEAR Protocol and CoinBureau even labeled it as the “kindest” cryptocurrency in the market. We will further talk about its early days in the market, its background, the challenges that it faces, its price, and its future.
NEAR Protocol Fundamental Analysis
To begin with, let us elaborate on what this cryptocurrency is and how it came into existence. NEAR Protocol claims to be a developer-friendly blockchain-based platform for decentralized applications that provides extremely high scalability. Its platform is supposed to be an ideal environment for decentralized applications – providing them with high speeds, cross-compatibility, and high throughput. This supposedly allows developers to create decentralized applications in a matter of minutes.
This cryptocurrency launched its mainnet in April 2020 with a supply of 1 billion NEAR tokens. According to Coinmarketcap, there is an annual 5% additional supply that is issued each year, 90% of which is spread among validators while the remaining 10% goes to the protocol treasury. At the time of writing, only 410 million NEAR tokens are circulating the market. That being said, the inflation rate of NEAR is 5% per year.
What makes this project even more solid is the team behind it; or as they like to call it, the NEAR Collective. NEAR Protocol was created by Alexander Skidanov and Illia Polosukhi, both having more than 10 years of experience in notable companies such as Google and Microsoft.
Throughout the months, NEAR Protocol has been labeled as “The Protocol of The Future” many times; mainly because of its efficiency. Additionally, despite being the competitor of Ethereum, there are Layer-2 solutions built on top of NEAR that aid the network of Ethereum. One example is Aurora, an Ethereum Layer-2 that claims to deliver 1000x lower transaction fees.
NEAR Protocol uses a delegated Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism and supports Smart Contracts. Just like some new generation cryptocurrencies, NEAR Protocol uses sharding to maximize its efficiency. Because it is a PoS blockchain, you are eligible to stake this cryptocurrency and get rewards in return; however, the minimum staking amount in order to become a validator is directly linked with the number of NEAR tokens other validators are staking in a specific shard at that particular time.
You can find this token listed for trading on many cryptocurrency exchanges, including two of the biggest ones: Binance and Huobi Global. After buying the token, you can use wallets like Trust Wallet, Math Wallet, or the official NEAR Wallet to store it – cold wallets such as Ledger also support NEAR.
A notable feature of the NEAR Protocol is its free interactive course for web developers. Also known as NEAR Academy, this course aims to teach developers how to implement blockchain solutions in their Apps.
What is Sharding?
To make their network more efficient, many blockchain companies divide their blockchain network into different groups or “shards”, enabling their network to process more transactions per second. In other words, networks split themselves into many shards in order to maximize their scalability through a process known as Sharding.
NEAR Protocol Price Analysis
This cryptocurrency entered the game when the market was bearish, gathering more than $50 million within its first four months. At the time of its mainnet release, the coin held a price of $1.34, with a 24-hour trading volume of $2.7 million. Even though the NEAR token is relatively new to the cryptocurrency market, it has been tested by the market many times. Only some months after its mainnet release, its price fell to $0.52, defining a new all-time low for NEAR. However, this year’s bull run came in a clutch, and NEAR started recovering rapidly; a recovery that directly affected its price. After three fruitful months, NEAR set a new all-time high hitting $7.57 in March 2021. After reaching its peak, the coin experienced a short downtrend, which led to a price of $4.04 per coin.
After the last market correction, the coin was left with a price of $2.44, about 369% higher than its all-time low. At the time of writing, NEAR holds a trading value of $2.19 and has a market capitalization of $918 million.
NEAR Protocol Price Prediction 2021
With the crypto market dropping over 52% in its value over the last months, many coins experienced huge drops in their price – including Bitcoin and the famous Dogecoin. As the market has started to recover, so have the coins – with some recovering quicker than others. However, these price changes are not stopping new developers from joining blockchain technology and experimenting with their own ideas. NEAR Protocol supplies developers with a platform like no other, and with that in mind, we can say that this crypto may be one of the few cryptocurrencies that are likely to survive the challenges that this industry is set to face in the future. The price of NEAR may experience an increase this year, potentially leading it to a price of $15 in the short run. Additionally, the price of the coin might continue to increase until the end of the year, possibly reaching the $30 milestone and setting a new all-time high.
NEAR Protocol Price Prediction 2022
The team behind NEAR Protocol has a lot in mind regarding its future. They presented concepts such as Private Shards or the implementation of Mobile Nodes, IoT devices, and even The Open Web. However, their whitepaper states that these ideas will not be implemented until the community drives for them. Having such plans, the future seems bright for NEAR, and so does its future price. As stated in many predictions, the price of NEAR may find itself between $10-$20 throughout the next year, breaking its current all-time highs. Additionally, we might see more spikes throughout 2022 based on the implementation rate throughout the year.
Price Prediction For The Next 5 Years
With time, each cryptocurrency finds its place on the market. This will most probably happen to NEAR too. NEAR still has a long way to go before it gets the attention it deserves and that is mainly because it hasn’t been around for that long. Being community-driven, NEAR doesn’t have a specific plan for its future; however, their team proposed the above-mentioned plans which will be implemented in the protocol if the community around it is up for the change. Having an interactive community and an extremely qualified team behind is a huge bonus for NEAR – not to mention its maximum supply of 1 billion which is another huge benefit for its price. Forecasts done regarding the price of the coin show that NEAR may reach prices as high as $39 after five years, leaving it with a 1790% increase over a five-year period.
NEAR Protocol Market Prediction
WalletInvestor
According to WalletInvestor, the price of NEAR might continue to increase throughout the years, potentially hitting the price of $10 by the end of a 365-day period. Additionally, they claim that the coin will hit a price of $39.29 after five years.
CryptocurrencyPricePrediction
This prediction website claims that the coin’s price might increase tremendously throughout the upcoming years. According to their forecast, NEAR may close 2021 with a price of $12.39, setting a new all-time high. Moreover, they predict that NEAR is likely to continue its growth, reaching a price of $105 by December 2025. This would leave investors with 5150% returns on their investment.
GovCapital
To add more to these positive predictions, GovCapital forecasts somewhat of a similar future for the coin. Their predictions show that NEAR might reach a price of $13.14 after one year, experiencing a 550% annual price increase. As for the long term, GovCapital states that the cryptocurrency is likely to reach a potential price of $43 after five years.
Our Price Prediction
The NEAR Protocol was undoubtedly a necessary addition to the cryptocurrency industry. Its utility and efficiency are what make it unique. That being said, we at Crypto Academy strongly believe that the coin has the potential to reach new heights in the future. Our predictions show that the coin might close the year with a price a little bit higher than the $30 milestone by the end of 2021.
As for the long term, we believe that the coin will gain mass adoption and implementation, potentially affecting its price. All in all, our forecast gives the coin a price between $50-$80 after five years, which means a possible increase of 3900%.
Historic Market Sentiments
2018 – 2019
The NEAR token was created in 2018 by Alexander Skidanov and Illia Polosukhi shortly after they met at the Y Combinator startup event held in San Francisco. In a matter of four months, $50 million were raised to aid the project, giving it a huge boost in accomplishing what it aims to. During this time, they also started their whiteboard series on youtube, featuring team members of different cryptocurrencies like Solana or Ethereum, and explaining what their projects do as briefly as they could.
2020
2020 was the year of the mainnet release for NEAR. According to Coinmarketcap, the coin started off with a trading value of $1.34 and ended the year with a price of $1.35. The end of 2020 signalized the initiation of a bull run that was huge for the coin.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can NEAR Protocol (NEAR) reach $10 by the end of 2021?
Because NEAR Protocol is a project that is building up rapidly, its token may reach the $10 milestone by the end of this year.
Where can I buy NEAR Protocol (NEAR)?
At the time of writing, NEAR tokens can be traded on Binance, Gate.io, Huobi Global, OKEx, CoinTiger, and FTX.
Should I invest in NEAR Protocol (NEAR)?
Based on our research, investing in this cryptocurrency may leave you with huge gains. However, always do your own research and invest at your own risk.
Takeaways
- NEAR Protocol is a smart contract blockchain platform and claims to be community-based, meaning that its community votes for changes on the protocol.
- It uses a process known as Sharding to increase its scalability.
- Its platform provides the space needed for developers to experiment with their ideas.
- They claim that their platform is so good that a developer can build a decentralized application on NEAR in 5 minutes.
- It was created in 2018 and its mainnet was launched in 2020.
- Its team consists of nearly fifty bright minds, all of whom have astonishing backgrounds in engineering.
- NEAR has a youtube series called “Whiteboard Series” which showcases how blockchains work at a technical level.
- NEAR uses a delegated Proof-of-Stake (dPoS) consensus mechanism.
- As stated by many experts and prediction websites, investing in near might prove extremely beneficial for you in the future.