Illia Polosukhin, the co-founder of Near, announced at the ETHDenver industry conference that the Near Protocol, a Layer 1 blockchain network, has released a product-first operating system that developers can build into and consumers can interact on.
Polosukhin says that the platform is meant to be a standard way to look at and find Web 3 products like cryptocurrency exchanges, non-fungible token (NFT) galleries, and social networks. The framework will be compatible with all blockchains (currently supporting the Near Protocol and Ethereum Virtual Machine networks), and Near will serve as the common entry point.
Why do we need a #BOS?
The transition from Web 2 to Web 3 is challenging and complicated. #BOS offers benefits of security and privacy, and the decentralized use of OS, while providing seamless experience to both developers and end-users.
— NEAR Blockchain (@NEAR_Blockchain) March 3, 2023
According to the press release, decentralised and composable front ends enable developers to build better apps and faster forks of existing pieces and components while leveraging built-ins such as profiles, payments, and notifications, as well as searching, without having to host anything themselves.
Polusukhin stated that composable decentralised front ends as a framework are compatible with any Web2 or Web3 back end and wallet. “The composable decentralised front ends as a framework can work with any Web2 or Web3 back end and any wallet,” he added.
Messari data indicates that the Near protocol is presently the 35th largest blockchain in terms of market capitalisation. The market capitalisation of layer 1 was about $1.96 billion, and its NEAR token was trading for approximately $2.28.
The platform is referred to as a “blockchain operating system” (BOS) in the press release. “We are shifting our focus away from layer 1 and toward the user and their experience. In an interview with CoinDesk, Polosukhin stated, “We envision this as the interface for blockchains in general.”
Polosukhin added that the platform intends to address some Web3 user experience issues. “As a user, it’s difficult to locate a singular location to view Web3 applications because there is no search mechanism or method to navigate between them,” said Polosukhin. The BOS establishes a singular entry point.