From the perspective of technological achievements, is the significant increase in NEAR's data in the third quarter sustainable?

In the third quarter of 2023, the NEAR protocol demonstrated remarkable development momentum, particularly achieving significant growth in daily active addresses and transaction volume. During this period, daily active addresses increased by 350%, from 60,000 to 260,000, while daily transaction volume reached a historic high of 770,000.

These achievements are largely attributed to the launch of KAIKAINOW, an innovative technology aimed at redefining the smartphone lock screen experience, which pushes customized content from news to games directly to users' home screens through blockchain and AI technology.

Despite a moderate decline in the overall cryptocurrency market in the third quarter of 2023, NEAR's market capitalization remained relatively stable, with a circulating market cap of $1.08 billion. The introduction of dollar stablecoins (such as USDC) on the NEAR network also boosted market activity, with stablecoin market capitalization reaching $82 million.

Additionally, NEAR's ecosystem showed strong growth, particularly in the DeFi and NFT sectors. Although the total locked value (TVL) saw a decline, the NEAR protocol still occupies an important position in the blockchain industry. The following sections introduce NEAR's various developments over the past year.

NEAR's Multi-Pronged Approach to Technological Innovation in 2023

In April of this year, NEAR launched the BOS operating system (Blockchain Operating System), providing a unified interface for the Web3 space and a common layer for building, browsing, and discovering experiences across any blockchain. It enables users to connect to various communities and applications while maintaining data privacy, without the need to own cryptocurrency. BOS offers a comprehensive platform that addresses the complexities of Web3 and the centralization limitations of Web2.

The NEAR protocol is a smart contract platform that employs a Thresholded Proof of Stake consensus algorithm to execute transactions. NEAR introduced the Nightshade Sharding mechanism, which helps increase transaction throughput and scalability, taking a novel approach to core network functionality and supporting EVM and Substrate through Aurora and Octopus networks.

Furthermore, NEAR provides developers with a wealth of tools and resources, including SDKs tailored for popular programming languages, sandbox environments, NEAR CLI, and NEAR developer governance. These resources are designed to facilitate developers' work within the NEAR ecosystem and enhance their application and service development capabilities.

In the third quarter of 2023, NEAR held an Asia-Pacific conference and released the NEAR BigQuery public dataset, both of which are significant initiatives to support the developer community. NEAR also supports developers through Dev Hub and BOS, aiming to stimulate more development activities.

Through its innovative technological framework and support for developers, NEAR has established its unique position in the Web3 space. As more developers and projects join the NEAR ecosystem, it is becoming an important platform for blockchain technology and decentralized applications.

Overview of NEAR's Innovative Breakthroughs in the Third Quarter

The third quarter of 2023 was a critical period for the NEAR protocol in terms of technological innovation and ecosystem development. During this quarter, the launches of KAIKAINOW and NEAR Social were the most notable highlights, while NEAR also made significant progress in the stablecoin market, technological advancements, developer support, and security.

Innovative Contribution of KAIKAINOW: Launched by Cosmose AI in September 2023, KAIKAINOW aims to redefine the smartphone lock screen experience through blockchain and AI technology, pushing customized content from news to games directly to users' home screens. Users can earn KAI-CHING tokens through interaction, which can be redeemed on the NEAR blockchain for online and offline shopping. KAIKAINOW has not only become the most active contract on NEAR but has also been rated as the most used crypto protocol by Dapp Radar.

Ecological Role of NEAR Social: As the social layer of NEAR BOS, NEAR Social provides a peer-to-peer social interaction, content creation, and distribution network. Users can own their data, and developers can access public data to create applications, while customizable widgets promote innovation. NEAR Social exhibited robust growth in the third quarter of 2023, with an average of 5,000 active addresses per month, a 22% month-over-month increase, becoming the activity center on BOS.

Technological Progress Octopus 2.0: The introduction of the NEAR re-staking feature enhanced the security and flexibility of the network. Through this update, stakers can protect the Octopus application chain with their staked NEAR, enhancing the synergy and security between the NEAR protocol and the Octopus application chain. The launch of Octopus 2.0 marks an important step for the NEAR ecosystem in improving network performance and security, signaling broader applications for NEAR in decentralized applications and cross-chain interoperability.

Development of the Stablecoin Market: The introduction of the native USDC stablecoin on the NEAR network, with a market cap of $82 million, provided more liquidity and stability to the network.

Developer Support and Community Engagement: NEAR held an Asia-Pacific conference in the third quarter and released the NEAR BigQuery public dataset, both of which are important initiatives to support the developer community. NEAR Dev Hub serves as a resource repository, providing a platform for collaboration and innovation for developers.

Progress in Security and Decentralization: NEAR continues to strengthen its Thresholded Proof of Stake (TPoS) consensus mechanism, enhancing the decentralization and security of the network. The implementation of Nightshade sharding has improved the network's capacity and performance.

NEAR's Data Performance in the Third Quarter is Impressive

In the third quarter of 2023, the NEAR protocol showed significant performance across various key metrics:

NEAR's average daily transaction volume increased by 117% quarter-over-quarter, rising from 355,000 transactions to 771,000 transactions. Despite the surge in transaction volume, the average transaction fee remained stable at around $0.001. This stability can be attributed to NEAR's unique transaction fee mechanism. Unlike Ethereum's auction-based system, NEAR adjusts fees based on the network's computational and bandwidth utilization.

NEAR's revenue (from network transaction fees, excluding storage staking) grew from $98,000 in the second quarter to $108,000, a 9% increase. This growth is primarily due to the increase in transaction volume following the launch of KAIKAINOW. Notably, NEAR employs a fee-burning mechanism for transaction fees, where 70% of the fees are burned, and the remaining 30% is directed to the contract from which the transaction originated.

The DeFi and NFT sectors remained low, mainly affected by the sluggish cryptocurrency market, with NEAR's total locked value (TVL) declining by 13%, reaching $52 million by the end of the quarter.

NFT activity continued to decline, with Paras Marketplace leading, followed by Few and Far, TradePort, and Mintbase.

NEAR's Momentum from the Third Quarter of 2023 is Worth Watching

As the third quarter of 2023 comes to a close, the performance of the NEAR protocol during this period highlights its strong development momentum as a cutting-edge blockchain technology and ecosystem. Through key technological innovations, ecosystem expansion, and significant growth in users and transaction volume, NEAR has not only solidified its position in the cryptocurrency space but also laid a solid foundation for future development.

Notably, NEAR's substantial growth in daily active addresses and daily transaction volume, along with the decline in average transaction fees, directly reflects the health, efficiency, and attractiveness of the NEAR network. Additionally, significant milestone events, such as the introduction of native USDC and the launch of Octopus 2.0, not only demonstrate the maturity of NEAR's technology but also bring new development opportunities to its ecosystem.

In summary, the performance of the NEAR protocol in the third quarter of 2023 is not only a testament to its ongoing efforts but also a clear demonstration of its potential in the future blockchain technology and application space. As NEAR continues to advance technological innovation and ecosystem development, it is expected to play an important role in the global blockchain arena.