NEAR is the first non-EVM blockchain to be compatible with Metamask.
The solution, built by Proximity Labs, is a smart contract called NETH which allows the user to remotely control their NEAR account using their Ethereum address.
The NETH implementation is live and users can interact with the contract on Ref Finance and Burrow.
NEAR becomes the first non-EVM chain to be compatible with Metamask. Developed by Proximity Labs, NETH is a smart contract that will allow users to directly interact with NEAR native apps using their Ethereum-based wallets.
Hello, Ethereum - #NEAR is now compatible with @MetaMaskDeveloped by Proximity, #NETH is the first solution to offer MetaMask compatibility on a non-EVM chain through a smart contract which allows you to remotely control a #NEAR account using your Ethereum account pic.twitter.com/s3g09rT35J
— Proximity Labs (@proximityfi) December 19, 2022
Metamask is one of the most popular wallets in crypto with most of the defi activity flowing through the wallet. Most of the Ethereum and EVM-based chains benefit from this existing infrastructure whereas other non-EVM chains have to come up with their own wallet solutions. For example, the go-to wallet for the Cosmos ecosystem is Keplr and for Solana it is Phantom.
Proximity Labs has built the first solution that offers “Metamask compatibility on a non-EVM chain” via a smart contract that allows a user to remotely control a NEAR account using their Ethereum account. Proximity Labs has also released a demo explaining the onboarding process.
The way it works is that the NETH contract pairs both the Ethereum and NEAR account together. This allows a user to use their Ethereum account to sign transactions with while the NEAR account accepts that transaction information. The NETH smart contract is responsible for verifying the signature from the Ethereum account, recovering the public Ethereum address and executing the transaction if it matches the address from the initial NETH setup. The further details of the technical implementation can be found in the article published by Proximity Labs.
The NETH implementation is open-source and non-custodial with an initial cost 0.5 NEAR to set up the wallet. The NETH implementation is live and users can use the smart contract on two of the biggest protocols on NEAR — Ref Finance and Burrow.
5/ #NETH features:• Open source• Entire process is non-custodial: you are in charge of your keys the whole time• The NETH Account setup flow is entirely client-side: it runs on your computer only and isn't communicating with a server or third party
— Res (@resdegen) December 19, 2022
NEAR is a Proof-of-Stake blockchain which uses sharding to process transactions and data in parallel, rather than sequentially. This makes NEAR capable of handling a large volume of transactions reliably. NEAR is ranked 34th on Coinmarketcap and at its peak, it had a TVL of over $400M. The token is currently trading at a price of $1.32, down more than 90% from its ATH.
On the Flipside
NEAR raised $350 Million in April earlier this year and has enough runway to drive the blockchain’s adoption. Innovations in infrastructure like NETH are only going to help onboard new users and drive the growth of the NEAR network.
Why You Should Care
The Ethereum alternatives have shown significant demand in the past and while the bear market has taken a toll on the price and TVL of most of these solutions, there are still real-world use cases and innovative solutions being built on these blockchains. The growth in any one network is going to help crypto grow.
Other information on scaling solutions:
Layer 1 vs Layer 2: Understanding How Blockchain Scaling Solutions Work
