NEAR is a relatively newer platform known for its scalability and user-friendliness, while Ethereum was a pioneer in the blockchain industry and has an established developer and user community. 

This comparison of NEAR vs Ethereum aims to pinpoint their key differences, strengths, and weaknesses. By understanding the unique features of each platform, you can make informed decisions about which blockchain is best suited for your needs.

What Is the NEAR Protocol?

NEAR Protocol is a decentralized application platform built on a sharded architecture. It uses  several technologies that contribute to its performance and scalability:

• Nightshade sharding: NEAR's sharding solution allows the network to process transactions in parallel across multiple shards, increasing its throughput and reducing transaction times.
• Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus: NEAR employs a PoS consensus mechanism, where network participants stake their NEAR tokens to validate transactions and secure the network. This is more energy-efficient than traditional Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus used by Bitcoin.
• Threaded runtime: NEAR's threaded runtime allows for parallel execution of smart contracts, increasing transaction throughput.
• Account-based model: Unlike Ethereum's address-based model, NEAR uses an account-based model, which simplifies account management and interactions. In the account-based model, accounts are inherently smart contracts, so developers don’t need to create and deploy separate smart contracts for each account, which simplifies the process.

NEAR has consistently demonstrated lower transaction fees than Ethereum and offers more intuitive development tools. The theoretical throughput reaches 100,000 transactions per second (TPS), even more than Solana’s 65,000 TPS. But in practice, NEAR’s TPS is usually lower. NEAR also offers cross-chain interoperability. 

Some apps built in NEAR are:

• Paraswap: A decentralized exchange aggregator that allows users to find the best prices across multiple DEXs.
• Ref Finance: A decentralized exchange (DEX) built on NEAR, offering a wide range of trading features.
• NEAR Wallet: The official wallet for the NEAR ecosystem, with a user-friendly interface for managing NEAR tokens and interacting with dApps.
• Mintbase: A platform for creating, buying, and selling non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the NEAR blockchain.

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What Is Ethereum?

Ethereum is one of the earliest and most widely used blockchains. Its core features include:   

• Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM): The EVM is a virtual computer that executes smart contracts written in the Solidity programming language. This allows developers to create a wide range of decentralized applications (dApps).   
• Solidity programming language: Solidity is the primary programming language used to develop smart contracts on Ethereum. It is a high-level language that is relatively easy to learn for developers familiar with object-oriented programming.   
• PoS consensus: PoS rewards network participants based on the amount of cryptocurrency they stake. Instead of miners competing to solve complex cryptographic puzzles like in PoW, validators in a PoS system stake their tokens to secure the network and validate transactions.

Ethereum has a massive developer community and the most established ecosystem of any blockchain platform. Thanks to the EVM, developers can use it for a wide range of applications, from decentralized finance (DeFi) to non-fungible tokens (NFTs).   

Popular apps built on Ethereum include:

• Uniswap: One of the most popular decentralized exchanges, Uniswap allows users to trade cryptocurrencies without intermediaries.   
• OpenSea: The largest NFT marketplace, featuring a wide range of digital collectibles.   
• Aave: A decentralized lending and borrowing protocol that enables users to earn interest on their crypto assets or borrow funds.   
• MakerDAO: A decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that issues the DAI stablecoin, a cryptocurrency pegged to the US dollar.   

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NEAR vs ETH Tokens 

NEAR is used to pay transaction fees and vote on proposals on the NEAR network. NEAR ranks #18 among all cryptocurrencies with a $5.5 billion market cap and a 341% yearly growth at the time of writing. 

The native token of Ethereum is ETH, and, similar to NEAR, it’s used to pay fees, govern, and secure the network. ETH is the second-largest cryptocurrency after BTC and has a $320 billion market cap. As an established token, it saw a smaller yearly growth than NEAR, 66%. 

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NEAR vs Ethereum: Key Differences 

Scalability

Known for its scalability, NEAR can handle a higher volume of transactions due to its sharding technology. While Ethereum has improved scalability with upgrades like the Merge and Layer-2 solutions, it can still experience congestion during peak times.

Ecosystem 

NEAR has a growing ecosystem of dApps and tools, but it is still smaller than Ethereum's. The NEAR community is actively developing and expanding the platform's capabilities.

Performance 

NEAR generally offers faster transaction speeds compared to Ethereum, especially during peak times.

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Conclusion 

NEAR Protocol offers a significant advantage in terms of scalability and transaction speed compared to Ethereum. Its sharded architecture allows for higher throughput and lower transaction fees, making it suitable for applications that require fast execution. 

However, Ethereum's established ecosystem and ongoing improvements in scalability can’t be overlooked. Ethereum also has a more mature ecosystem of cross-chain bridges and protocols, which allows for easier integration with other networks.  

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