Coin Bureau describes NEAR Protocol as a sharded proof-of-stake Layer 1 blockchain that now also aims to serve cross-chain transactions and artificial intelligence (AI) agents. The network's 30% developer gas rebate has been approved for removal. As of Sept. 4, 2026, though, that change had not reached mainnet, the live network, so the rebate had not been removed there.
Key facts, per Coin Bureau
- Supply: About 1.305 billion tokens, both circulating and total.
- Maximum supply: No fixed maximum.
- Validator reward target: 2.5% of total supply a year, down from a 5% model.
- Network annual percentage yield (APY): About 5.27% for the last epoch, as of Sept. 4, 2026.
- Active validators: Around 420.
- Committed to validators: Roughly 47% of supply.
The rebate change
Coin Bureau reports that House of Stake approved proposal HSP-027 on June 15, 2026. Removing the 30% developer gas rebate would let the eligible execution fee be burned instead. The approved protocol change still needed to reach mainnet at the review's snapshot.
NEAR Protocol is a sharded proof-of-stake Layer 1 blockchain that positions itself as infrastructure for cross-chain transactions and AI agents through products such as NEAR Intents and Chain Signatures.
The changelog entry
The nearcore project's changelog, which records changes to NEAR's node software, has an entry called Remove gas rewards. It sets the burnt_gas_reward parameter from 30% to 0%. The entry is undated and does not say whether the change is live on mainnet.
Buybacks from Intents
Coin Bureau reports that captured revenue from NEAR Intents has bought NEAR on the open market since Feb. 23, 2026. The dated steps, and which of them are done, are set out next.
NEAR fee and buyback steps: what is done and what is pending
Step through the dated steps to see which are done and which are still pending.
- Feb. 23, 2026Intents revenue buys NEARdone
Captured Intents revenue has been used to buy NEAR on the open market since this date.
Source: NEAR Protocol Review 2026: Is NEAR Worth It? (coinbureau.com), accessed Oct 17, 2026 - June 15, 2026HSP-027 approvedannounced
House of Stake approved removing the 30% developer rebate, so the eligible execution fee can be burned.
Source: NEAR Protocol Review 2026: Is NEAR Worth It? (coinbureau.com), accessed Oct 17, 2026 - Review snapshotNot yet on mainnetuncertain
In the review, the approved protocol change still needed to reach mainnet.
Source: NEAR Protocol Review 2026: Is NEAR Worth It? (coinbureau.com), accessed Oct 17, 2026 - UndatedChangelog sets rebate to 0%expected
The nearcore changelog sets burnt_gas_reward from 30% to 0%, with no mainnet status given.
Source: nearcore/CHANGELOG.md at master · near/nearcore (github.com), accessed Oct 17, 2026
Statuses reflect Coin Bureau's review snapshot and the undated changelog, and they have not been checked against live mainnet.
What NEAR Intents and Chain Signatures do
NEAR Intents has logged more than $27 billion in all-time volume, spread across 34 chains, as of Sept. 4, 2026, according to Coin Bureau. Chain Signatures lets NEAR accounts and smart contracts approve transactions on other blockchains.
Analysis: volume and the rebate are separate questions
Cumulative volume is not the same as revenue that stays with NEAR. So the more-than-$27-billion figure does not show how much value reaches the token. The rebate change would let the eligible execution fee be burned instead, but that result is not yet confirmed on mainnet.
Token and supply
Coin Bureau places the NEAR token at the center of network execution and security. It reports about 1.305 billion tokens with no fixed maximum. A separate explainer covers what gives crypto tokens their value.
Staking and rewards
Coin Bureau reports a last-epoch annual percentage yield of about 5.27%, from a NearBlocks snapshot as of Sept. 4, 2026. It also says the actual return varies with validator commission, performance and the share of total NEAR staked. A user who pulls stake back out usually waits four epochs, which NEAR documentation estimates at about 24 to 28 hours. A separate explainer covers how crypto staking works, including rewards and risks.
Shards and block times
Coin Bureau reports that the production network runs nine shards, with blocks of roughly 600 milliseconds and finality in around 1.2 seconds, as of Sept. 4, 2026.
Developers and languages
Coin Bureau says NEAR supports smart contracts written mainly in Rust and JavaScript, which compile to WebAssembly for execution. TokenMinds, which sells NEAR development services, says contracts can be written in Rust or in a JavaScript-like language. It also calls NEAR fast and easy for developers to build on.
Founders and early work
Coin Bureau says the founders, Alexander Skidanov and Illia Polosukhin, first worked together on an AI-focused project before they founded NEAR. It also says Polosukhin worked on machine learning at Google and co-wrote the Transformer paper, Attention Is All You Need.
Where to read the specification
The NEAR Enhancement Proposals repository says it hosts NEAR Protocol's current specification and standards. The nearcore changelog covers the rebate entry, and both pages are undated, so they were accessed on Oct. 17, 2026.
This article draws on the first part of Coin Bureau's review, and its Sept. 4, 2026 figures come from block explorers and data dashboards that have not been independently verified. The founding history rests on that review alone.
Sources: NEAR Protocol Review 2026: Is NEAR Worth It? (coinbureau.com), accessed Oct 17, 2026 · nearcore/CHANGELOG.md at master · near/nearcore (github.com), accessed Oct 17, 2026 · NEAR Protocol: The Fast, Friendly Blockchain for Business | TokenMinds (tokenminds.co), accessed Oct 17, 2026 · GitHub - near/NEPs: The Near Enhancement Proposals repository (github.com), accessed Oct 17, 2026
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