2024-03-28
Near Foundation, the non-profit organization behind the NEAR protocol, has launched a new protocol called "Chain Signatures" on its testnet, which will allow users to authorize transactions on other blockchains from their NEAR accounts. It is expected that the service will be launched on the main network in early May.
NEAR launches “Chain Signatures”, that allows
NEAR accounts, including smart contracts, to sign transactions for any
blockchain. It enables decentralized exchanges, lending protocols, and other
DeFi dApps to be built using the native assets of non-smart contract chains.
On Mar 25, 2024 at BUIDL Asia in Seoul, Korea, NEAR Co-Founder and NEAR Foundation CEO Illia Polosukhin announced the launch of Chain Signatures on NEAR.
Previously, there had to be separate wallets for each chain. And you can use NEAR tokens (NEP-141) to pay for gas at all supported chains. Chain Signatures is expected to launch in early May.
"Chain Signatures" will enable NEAR
accounts and smart contracts to authorize transactions on other blockchain
networks by using a decentralized Multi-Party Computation (MPC) system to
communicate between blockchains.
NEAR smart contracts can sign transactions for
non-smart contract blockchains such as Bitcoin, Celestia, Bittensor, XRP
Ledger, and others. Chain Signatures enables decentralized exchanges, lending
protocols, and other DeFi dApss to be built using the native assets of
non-smart contract chains.
Chain Signatures is powered by a decentralized
MPC network which uses NEAR staking and Eigenlayer ETH restakers for network
validators and security.
Chain Signatures currently supports Bitcoin,
Ethereum, Cosmos chains, DogeCoin, and XRP Ledger. It will support Solana, TON
Network, Polkadot, and other blockchains in the future.
