Translated by Lyne Choi

 

Table of Contents

1. NEAR Protocol Aims to Achieve Widespread Adoption of Blockchain Technology

2. Outstanding UX with a Web2-like Account Model 

2-1. Challenge: Wallet as a Barrier to Blockchain Adoption

2-2. Ethereum: Implementing Account Abstraction via Mempool without Modifying the Consensus Layer

2-3. NEAR: Implementing AA from Protocol Design to Deliver an Exceptional UX

3. Enhancing the Development Process with BOS and Aurora

3-1. Challenge: Lack of Web3-specific Development Tools

3-2. BOS: A Blockchain Front-End Dev OS that Significantly Reduces Development Time

3-3. Gas Fee Reduction with Aurora SDK Corss-Contract Call

4. NEAR’s Potential Demonstrated by Sweatcoin

5. Why NEAR is the BOS?

 

 

1. NEAR Protocol Aims to Achieve Widespread Adoption of Blockchain Technology

NEAR is a layer 1 project designed with the goal of achieving widespread adoption of blockchain, prioritizing end-user and developer usability. At the forefront of NEAR's achievements is Sweatcoin, a killer dApp that offers a range of tools for users and developers. Alongside the launch of EVM Aurora in 2021, the NEAR ecosystem experienced rapid growth in tandem with Sweatcoin, although it has faced a slowdown due to the recent market downturn, similar to many other projects.

Despite the challenges, NEAR's ecosystem shows promise for a resurgence with NEAR's Account Model, recently released developer tools, and the continued success of Sweatcoin. NEAR's user-friendly account model simplifies blockchain usage for non-technical users, while the introduction of BOS and Aurora SDK enhances the Web 3 development experience. In this article, we will delve into NEAR's efforts to improve the user experience for both end-users and developers and highlight its key strengths. 

 

2. Outstanding UX with a Web2-like Account Model

2-1. Challenge: Wallet as a Barrier to Blockchain Adoption

Wallets pose a significant barrier to the widespread adoption of blockchain technology. Currently, users are required to create and manage seed phrases in order to use cryptocurrency wallets like Metamask, which is considerably less user-friendly compared to Web 2 accounts.

The challenges associated with wallets have persisted for a considerable period, prompting the exploration of practical solutions aimed at enhancing the widespread adoption and accessibility of crypto wallets.

2-2. Ethereum: Implementing Account Abstraction via Mempool without Modifying the Consensus Layer 

To address this challenge, Ethereum has taken early measures and introduced ERC-4337, a technology that enables the implementation of Account Abstraction (AA). The purpose of AA is to tackle wallet-related issues within the Ethereum ecosystem. Through ERC-4337, AA is implemented using a "User Operation Mempool," which functions similarly to a regular transaction mempool, without requiring any modifications at the consensus layer.

While wallet services that adopt AA are expected to significantly alleviate the inconveniences associated with existing wallet services, such as 1) social media log-in, 2) password recovery and modification, 3) multi-signature, and 4) gas fee payment, their widespread usage is hindered by the lack of support from major wallets like MetaMask, which do not currently support ERC-4337. Furthermore, since ERC-4337 does not introduce changes at the consensus layer, Ethereum dApps need to make significant modifications to their existing codebase in order to support ERC-4337.

2-3. NEAR: Implementing AA from Protocol Design to Deliver an Exceptional UX

NEAR prioritized user experience in its protocol design. Unlike accounts on other blockchains, NEAR accounts are tailored to be highly familiar to Web 2 users. One notable feature of NEAR accounts is their ability to be divided into multiple keys with different permissions. Among these, Function Call Keys enable applications to invoke specific methods on behalf of users, eliminating the need for users to repeatedly sign for the same actions. Moreover, NEAR has integrated AA at the protocol development stage, simplifying the process for developers to incorporate user-friendly features such as gas payment.