Account Model

In order to join the NEAR ecosystem, users need to create an account. NEAR accounts are simple to use and present a variety of advantages with respect to other blockchain ecosystems.

Human-Readable Accounts

NEAR leverages human-readable accounts to simplify remembering them. In this way, accounts have addresses such as alice.near instead of long strings of random characters.

Permissions Through Access Keys

NEAR accounts can have multiple keys, each with their own set of permissions. This allows to share individual keys with third-parties, limiting their potential impact in your account, and allowing to replace any compromised key.

Simple to Develop Smart Contracts

NEAR accounts can optionally hold a small piece of software, known as a smart contract. NEAR contracts are written in established languages such as Rust or JavaScript.

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Comparison With Ethereum

If you're familiar with development on Ethereum, it's worth making a quick note about how accounts are different. The table below summarizes some key differences:

	Ethereum Wallet	NEAR Account
Public Identifier	Public Key (0x123...)	Account ID (alice.near)
Secret Key	Private Key (0x456...)	Multiple Keypairs with permissions: - FullAccess key - FunctionCall key
Characteristics	- Private key gives full access - Account doesn't have to be created via a transaction	- Permission-based keypair - Account ID must be created via blockchain transaction