NEAR launches the Blockchain operating system

NEAR has announced that it will be Blockchain Operating System (BOS), introducing a common layer for browsing and discovering open web experiences, compatible with all blockchains.

Today’s Web2 and Web3 are fragmented: Web2 because every account and experience is centralized and controlled by one company, Web3 because every blockchain network is a silo. BOS wants to solve this for both by providing a way to discover and consume experiences with common services, including a single identity, user-owned assets, and user-controlled data. Developers get full composition of frontends and users have full portability of data and assets.

The blockchain operating system works with any blockchain or Web2 backend and provides access to a variety of gateways. For end users, BOS will be one continuous experience, similar to using a single app, even if users flow between experiences built by different developers or on different chains. For developers, decentralized and composable interfaces offer a way to build and launch apps, with the ability to more quickly branch existing parts and components, using built-in elements such as profiles, payments, notifications and search without having to host anything themselves .

A series of launches

The BOS launch also features the debut of alpha.near.org, the first preview of a gateway for developers to build on the Blockchain operating system, and FastAuth, a solution for fast onboarding to BOS via online login. Alpha.near.org is a composable multichain front end for developers, with over 1800 components already active. Alpha.near.org and FastAuth were built by Pagoda, the product and engineering company that contributes core technology to the NEAR ecosystem.

FastAuth helps improve usability and accessibility for a variety of end users and is easy to manage for developers. It’s mobile-friendly, Pass Key-enabled and doesn’t require a crypto wallet to activate, while allowing for decentralized ownership – using human-readable account names that also keep power in the hands of users. All of this is possible without needing a seed phrase or password, and it only needs to be done once: a single, secure, streamlined login for the entire web.

BOS aims to be a truly decentralized, community-driven effort with contributions from many teams across the NEAR ecosystem. Pagoda, the NEAR Foundation and other teams from the NEAR ecosystem will build BOS through 2023.