Sharded by Design. Proven in Production.

AI-driven economies require a blockchain that can scale to billions of transactions per second, execute real-time decisions, and protect sensitive data.

Built for AI‑Scale from Day One

Horizontally Scalable Sharding

Linear Throughput Growth

A Blockchain for End Users

600ms Block time

1.2 second Finality

1M TPS Scalability

9 Shards

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Stateless Validation Is Here

More shards, faster shards.

Nightshade 3.0

This newest evolution of NEAR Protocol decouples consensus from execution, enables multi-contract atomic interactions, and introduces a private shard for confidential transactions.

Speed. Scale. Access.

  • 600ms block times. 1.2s finality. 1M TPS scalability. NEAR Protocol is one of the fastest blockchains in production.
  • Cheaper global contracts. Popular smart contracts can now be deployed once and reused across the network, cutting costs for builders.
  • Chain Signatures now support every chain that matters. The mainnet release adds EdDSA support—unlocking compatibility with Solana, TON, Stellar, Aptos, Sui, and more.

Private Shard

Launched with Nightshade 3.0, the NEAR private shard enables confidential execution directly at the protocol layer. Transactions on the NEAR private shard are shielded from public view—no MEV, no frontrunning, no strategy exposure—while preserving cryptographic integrity and selective disclosure for compliance.

The NEAR private shard is operated by seven permissioned validators and connected to NEAR mainnet via a TEE-based bridge. Private Shard is the foundation for Confidential Intents.

A New Operating Layer for AI

With dynamic sharding, low-latency finality, and private execution, NEAR gives AI agents a blockchain they can actually use.

Confidential AI Compute

Trusted Execution Environments allow models to process private data without exposing it on‑chain.

Live Resharding

Split or merge shards without downtime; the network dynamically adapts to load.

In‑Memory State

Removes database latency, dramatically improving single‑shard performance.

A Blockchain for Developers

Write in Rust or JS: NEAR’s WebAssembly runtime supports familiar languages for building smart contracts.

Gasless UX, built in: Use meta-transactions to cover gas fees on behalf of your users.

Earn as they run: Developers get 30% of burned gas every time their contract executes.

Learn About NEAR's Sharded Blockchain

Whiteboard Sessions on NEAR

Illia Polosukhin (Co-Founder of NEAR Protocol) and Bowen Wang (Director of Protocol) discuss the consensus mechanism and the Nightshade design of the NEAR blockchain.

S-Tier Tech: Scaling for Trillions of Agents

As AI agents become more integrated into daily life—handling payments, investments, and contracts—blockchain provides the open financial layer and trustless settlement needed for their autonomy.

Core Protocol, Chain Signature Tech, and Omnibridge

NEAR aims to support billions of users and AI agents by scaling efficiently through a unique approach to blockchain sharding.

Secure It. Evolve It.

Validators Run your own node or chunk validator and become a part of a decentralized community safeguarding the protocol.

NEAR Enhancement Proposals Engage in discussions about changes to the protocol's specifications and standards. Share your voice in shaping NEAR's future.

One Blockchain. Endless Throughput.

Sharded by design. Proven in production. Ready for what’s next.