NEAR Foundation launches data layer to support developers

The NEAR Foundation announced the rollout of the NEAR Data Availability (NEAR DA) layer, an innovation that offers robust, cost-efficient data availability for developers building Ethereum rollups, on Nov. 8.

Launched with Madara by StarkNet, Caldera, Fluent, Vistara, Dymension, and Movement Labs as its first users, NEAR DA’s entry into the data availability landscape builds upon the company’s three years as an established, secure, and reliable blockchain with 100% uptime.

NEAR provides all the guarantees of a scalable layer-one network that is also more cost-effective than other DA solutions; for instance, posting rollup data on NEAR would be 8,000 times cheaper than posting on Ethereum, the company says.

Designed to scale Ethereum cheaply and reliably, NEAR DA offers immediate benefits to Web3 founders exploring the modular blockchain development landscape.

Illia Polosukhin (C), CEO of NEAR Foundation and partners talk about the future of Near at "Near Apac: Unlimited Future". Photo courtesy of NEAR

The new layer supports Ethereum L2s that want to continue building on ETH without the high cost of posting data. It will also support high-quality projects looking to launch an app chain or an L2.

The negligible, predictable gas fees and cost-effectiveness of NEAR DA let developers build more accessible applications for their end-users.

As of September 2023, posting 100kB of calldata on Ethereum L1 for optimistic rollups would cost roughly US$26, while posting the same amount of data on NEAR Protocol would cost US$0.003.

Projects can pass those benefits along to their user base while remaining integrated with the broader Ethereum ecosystem.

Illia Polosukhin, co-founder of NEAR Protocol, said that offering a data availability layer to Ethereum rollups highlights the versatility of NEAR’s tech while also helping founders from across Web3 deliver great products that bring them closer to mainstream adoption of the Open Web.

"We have been live with 100% uptime for more than three years, so can offer true reliability to projects looking for secure DA while also being cost-effective. NEAR provides great solutions to developers no matter which stack they’re building on, and now that includes the Ethereum modular blockchain landscape," said Polosukhin.

By opening up its blockchain for data availability, NEAR is expanding its offerings to deliver a modular blockchain development framework that lets Web3 developers and founders continue building on Ethereum while leveraging its state-of-the-art technology for one part of the stack, depending on their requirements.

NEAR DA expands the capabilities of the company’s Open Web Stack, a common entry point where developers and users alike can easily build, browse, and discover Web3 products and platforms.

This includes FastAuth onboarding to an account in seconds with zero crypto or seed phrases required, as well as the ability to create decentralized frontends from a library of thousands of components.