> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.near.org/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Exchange Integration

> Learn how to integrate NEAR Protocol.

NEAR is an open-source, sharded proof-of-stake blockchain with support for smart contracts.

| Property | Value / behavior | Reference |
| - | - | - |
| Native token precision | 24 decimals; `1 NEAR = 10²⁴ yoctoNEAR`. RPC balances and transfer amounts use integer strings in yoctoNEAR. | [Balances](/integrations/balance-changes) |
| Account addresses | Implicit IDs: 64 lowercase hexadecimal characters; named IDs such as `alice.near`; Ethereum-like IDs starting with `0x`; deterministic IDs starting with `0s`. | [Account IDs](/protocol/accounts-contracts/account-id) |
| Block time | Produced in \~600 ms, final in \~1.2 s. | [Blocks & Finality](/integrations/blocks-and-finality) [Execution milestones](/api/rpc/transactions#the-wait_until-field) |
| Transaction validity | `transaction_validity_period` is measured in blocks; `86400` blocks is \~14.4 hours at a 600 ms cadence. | [Transaction Lifecycle](/integrations/transaction-lifecycle#how-old-can-the-referenced-block-hash-be-before-its-invalid%3F) |
| Transaction fees | Gas usage is determined by the actions and their parameters; function-call usage depends on contract execution. Fees are paid in NEAR at a gas price with a floor of **0.0001 NEAR/Tgas**, increasing with network load. | [Gas fees](/protocol/transactions/gas) |

***

<h2 id="integration-reference">
  Integration Reference
</h2>

* [Nodes & RPC](/integrations/nodes)
* [Accessing On-chain Data](/integrations/on-chain-data)
* [Accounts](/integrations/accounts)
* [Blocks and Finality](/integrations/blocks-and-finality)
* [Transaction Lifecycle](/integrations/transaction-lifecycle)
* [Testing](/integrations/testing)
* [Receiving Deposits](/integrations/deposits)
* [Sending Withdrawals](/integrations/create-transactions)
* [Fungible Tokens](/integrations/fungible-tokens)
* [Balances & Reconciliation](/integrations/balance-changes)
* [Staking & Delegation](/integrations/staking)
* [Error Handling](/integrations/errors/introduction)

<h3 id="transaction-reference-links">
  Transaction Reference Links
</h3>

* [Basics](/protocol/transactions)
* [Transaction Structure](/protocol/transactions/transaction-anatomy)
* [Constructing Transactions](/integrations/create-transactions)

***

## Additional Resources

* [The Beginner's Guide to the NEAR Blockchain](https://near.org/blog/the-beginners-guide-to-the-near-blockchain)
* [NEAR Whitepaper](https://near.org/papers/the-official-near-white-paper/)
* [NEAR GitHub](https://www.github.com/near)

***

## Frequently Asked Questions

These guides provide answers to frequently asked questions about integrating with the NEAR Protocol. It covers topics such as account management, validator operations, transaction processing, and more.

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="What is a good project summary for NEAR?" id="what-is-a-good-project-summary-for-near%3F">
    NEAR is a sharded, public, proof-of-stake blockchain and supports smart contracts written in Rust and compiled to WebAssembly (WASM).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What's special about NEAR?" id="whats-special-about-near%3F">
    NEAR is the blockchain for builders.

    If you understand the basics of web development, you can write, test and deploy scalable decentralized applications in minutes on the most developer-friendly blockchain without having to learn new tools or languages.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Is NEAR open source?" id="is-near-open-source%3F">
    Yes. Have a look at our [GitHub organization](https://github.com/near).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Do you have any on-chain governance mechanisms?" id="do-you-have-any-on-chain-governance-mechanisms%3F">
    NEAR has [House of Stake governance](https://gov.houseofstake.org/blog/introducing-near-house-of-stake). Governance proposals and consensus protocol activation are separate processes; follow the implementation and activation requirements for each change.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Do you have a bug-bounty program?" id="do-you-have-a-bug-bounty-program%3F">
    Follow the current [nearcore security policy](https://github.com/near/nearcore/security/policy) for disclosure instructions and links to any applicable program.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What contracts should we be aware of right now?" id="what-contracts-should-we-be-aware-of-right-now%3F">
    The [core-contracts repository](https://github.com/near/core-contracts) contains reference implementations. Review the deployed version and authority of each contract you integrate with:

    * **Staking Pool / Delegation contract**
    * **Lockup / Vesting contract**
    * Whitelist Contract
    * Staking Pool Factory
    * Multisig contract
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>


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