# NEAR Protocol

> NEAR is the chain abstraction stack: a public, proof-of-stake, sharded layer-1 blockchain plus a suite of products (Chain Abstraction, Intents, and NEAR AI) that let builders create apps and AI agents which scale to billions of users and work across all blockchains.

NEAR (native token: NEAR) launched its mainnet in 2020 and is stewarded by the NEAR Foundation. The links below point to the primary human-readable pages; Markdown versions are not yet published. Follow the most relevant link for detail rather than loading every page.

## Products
- [Blockchain](https://www.near.org/blockchain): NEAR's sharded proof-of-stake layer-1 for high-throughput applications.
- [Chain Abstraction](https://www.near.org/chain-abstraction): One account and one flow across many chains, powered by Chain Signatures.
- [NEAR Intents](https://www.near.org/intents): An intent-based transaction layer where solvers compete to fill cross-chain swaps and AI-agent actions, with no bridging and no fragmented liquidity.
- [NEAR AI](https://www.near.org/ai): User-owned, verifiable AI with private inference inside Trusted Execution Environments (Intel TDX and NVIDIA Confidential Computing).

## Learn
- [Blog](https://www.near.org/blog): Announcements and technical updates.
- [Developers Hub](https://www.near.org/developer-hub): Documentation and resources for building on NEAR.
- [Founders Hub](https://www.near.org/founder-hub): Resources for founders building on NEAR.
- [Roadmap and History](https://www.near.org/roadmap-history): Where NEAR is heading and where it has been.

## Ecosystem and references
- [NEAR AI product site](https://near.ai/): The dedicated NEAR AI site (near.ai).
- [GitHub](https://github.com/near): NEAR open-source repositories.
- [Wikipedia: NEAR (blockchain platform)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEAR_(blockchain_platform)): Independent overview.
- [CoinGecko: NEAR](https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/near): Market data for the NEAR token.

## Optional
- [Contact](https://www.near.org/contact-us)
- [X / Twitter](https://x.com/nearprotocol)
- [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/nearprotocol/)