The NEAR Protocol team unveiled a new staking mechanism that lets validators reward delegates in several different tokens. ForkLog was informed by project representatives.
The initiative is launched in collaboration with Aurora, the developers of the layer-2 solution. NEAR Protocol believes the new yield farming model will attract more capital and delegates, and ecosystem projects will participate in securing the network. This, in turn, will increase the decentralization of the blockchain.
“The new model better aligns incentives across the NEAR ecosystem. We look forward to collaborating with projects and professional validators, and delivering much greater value to users,” said Alex Shevchenko, head of Aurora Labs.
In the NEAR Protocol network, delegation is not implemented at the protocol level, which allows each validator to create and customize their own smart contracts. To attract delegates, they must deploy a staking pool, whose contract defines commission fees and how rewards are distributed.
Until now, this model did not differ from other Proof of Stake-based protocols: a user deposits the native NEAR token into the pool and receives rewards in the same asset. According to the project team, the current annual yield on such operations is 10%.
Aurora is the first project to join the initiative. According to the press release, the governance DAO approved the mechanism and plans to launch its own validator.
Back in January 2022, the NEAR Protocol team raised $150 million in a funding round led by venture capital firm Three Arrow Capital.
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