Announcing NEAR YEAR: 1st Annual On-Chain NEAR Awards 🏆
[This was originally published on PotLock by PlugRel on Jan 10.]
NEAR YEAR: first annual onchain awards. Blackdragon, Sharddog, NEAR Foundation, POTLOCK
We’re thrilled to announce the inaugural NEAR YEAR Annual Awards, celebrating outstanding achievements and contributions within the NEAR ecosystem throughout 2024! This groundbreaking initiative features over 40 award categories, recognizing individual achievements, project milestones, notable features, and 2025 predictions. From the most anticipated NEAR token launch to the biggest Degen on NEAR, this exciting event will determine who holds the 2024 on-chain bragging rights.
Powered by POTLOCK’s new voting contracts and Sharddog Human Voter NFTs, this initiative is immutable & community-driven. We are proud to work with NEAR Foundation, Sharddog, NEAR Catalog, NEARWEEK, & Blackdragon to make this happen!
Go to NEARYEAR.com, the official portal for seeing the nominees, which nominees have made it to the on-chain list, and the voting portal once the voting period is live in a few weeks. Want to improve the dashboard? Check out our github.
Timeline
ANNOUNCEMENT — JAN 10
- Launch of official nominations, announcement article, and NEAR Year website
SUBMISSIONS — JAN 10–17
- Community members submit nomination lists
- Special founder debates (details coming soon)
VOTING JAN 17–25
- Open voting period (requires Sharddog I AM HUMAN Voter NFT)
- Awards ceremony at the end of January showcasing winners
How to Participate
Here’s your guide to participating in the NEAR YEAR Awards:
Nomination Process
For Projects:
- Create a project profile on POTLOCK (https://alpha.POTLOCK.org/register) using your project’s named account
- Apply to list or contact @plugrel on X (x.com/plugrel) with your POTLOCK profile and desired category
To Suggest Nominees:
- Duplicate the list on POTLOCK while maintaining the original name (go to nearyear.com/nomination and click copy button to be taken to a page to duplicate the list to make your own nominee list for that category
- Include project account names (searchable on near.social using the People widget). If a project doesnt exist you need to get that project onboard to a POTLOCK Profile
- Share your list on Twitter, tagging @POTLOCK_ @nearweek @nearprotocol @nearcatalog
Selection Criteria:
- Top 5 nominees will be chosen based on:
- Number of authentic user nominations
- Alignment with category-specific criteria
Voting System
To ensure fair voting:
- Voters must hold a Sharddog “I Voted” NFT for verification part of the voting flow when live
- List creators receive 2x voting power
To self-nominate, create a POTLOCK profile, apply to list entry (if open), and notify plugrel on Twitter.
As your curator-in-chief, Plug, I’ve crafted some pretty lit categories and made a shortlist since I’m super tapped into the NEAR streets. I even put myself on the list — because I’m corrupt on-chain! But these aren’t the final lists. Learn how you can apply for a category or use on-chain lists to nominate your favorite projects and people of 2024.
Award Categories
Here are all the categories for the 2024 NEAR Annual Awards:
Overall Concepts
Overall Categories that promote concepts over people and projects.
- MOST EXCITING THING ON NEAR for 2025: Exploring groundbreaking developments on NEAR for 2025, including Chain Abstraction, AI, and Apps.
- BEST EVENT for NEAR in 2024: Key events that shaped NEAR in 2024, including Eth Denver, Consensys, Token2049, and Eth CC.
- Best Tech Innovation: Notable technological advancements on NEAR, including Chain Signatures, NEAR DA, NEAR Intents, and Nightshade 2.0.
- BEST JOKE in NEAR: Memorable humorous moments in the NEAR community, including Jensen touching Illia and the NEAR is a Doge L2 meme.
Projects
Awards highlighting the achievements of projects on NEAR.
- BEST NEW PROJECT: Projects launching major products on mainnet or starting from scratch in 2024.
- BEST DeFI Project: Live projects evaluated on activity, unlock, and handling of funds or wallet integration.
- BEST NEW TOKEN: Top new ecosystem token launched this year.
- Best NEAR Token 2024: Leading ecosystem token natively deployed on NEAR.
- Best New PFP Collection: Outstanding generative PFP collection launched in 2024.
- BEST NEW Non-PFP NFT: Leading NFT Collection based on utility and community traction.
- Best Existing NFT Collection: Pre-2024 NFT projects maintaining excellence throughout 2024.
- Most Anticipated NEAR Mainnet Launches: Promising projects preparing to launch on NEAR mainnet.
- Best New Smart Contract: Most impactful smart contract deployed in 2024.
- Strongest Community: Most engaged and active builder community on NEAR.
- MOST ANTICIPATED NEAR TOKEN LAUNCH: Most promising upcoming token launch from a NEAR origin project.
- Best NFT PLATFORM: Most impactful NFT platform advancing the NEAR ecosystem.
- BEST Multichain Expansion: Excellence in expanding to other chains through partnerships, liquidity, and user growth.
- BEST DAO on NEAR: Most active and effective DAO with an address on NEAR.
- BEST OPEN SOURCE PROJECT: Outstanding open source project with visible contributor activity.
- Best Wallet: Excellence in user onboarding, NEAR integration, and ecosystem adoption.
- BEST Pivot: Most successful strategic pivot with demonstrated or potential impact.
- BEST INFRASTRUCTURE: Leading infrastructure solution based on ecosystem impact and technical excellence.
- Best Privacy Project: Excellence in privacy tools using ZK, TEE, or MPC technology.
- Best Consumer App: Most valuable consumer application driving mass adoption.
- Best AI Project Live on NEAR: Leading AI integration with direct NEAR L1 interaction.
Downbad
Notable setbacks in the ecosystem, transparently recorded on the blockchain.
- BEST DRAMA: Most significant dramatic events in the NEAR ecosystem.
- Projects that we want to see back on NEAR: Most missed projects that left the NEAR ecosystem.
- BEST FAILED DAO: Notable DAOs that ceased operations in 2024.
- Saddest Project Shutdowns: Most impactful project closures in 2024.
- BEST NEAR REGIONAL COMMUNITY WHILE IT LASTED: Outstanding regional hubs and communities before closure.
Future Look in 2025
Predictions for project performance in web3.
- MOST Likely to generate the most DeFI Revenue: Projects positioned for significant DeFi revenue generation.
- Most Likely App to Get A Billion Users First: Apps with highest potential for mass user adoption.
People
Awards celebrating individual NEARIANs shaping our ecosystem.
- COOLEST FOUNDER ON NEAR: Most influential and innovative founders.
- BEST YAPPER: Most effective ecosystem communicators.
- Best Content Creator: Most consistent and impactful multimedia content producers.
- Most Likely to Never Leave NEAR Eco: Most dedicated ecosystem contributors.
- WHO FROM NEAR NEEDS TO START YAPPING MORE: Underutilized voices from NEAR OGs.
- BEST AT NEAR Foundation 2024: Outstanding NEAR Foundation contributor.
- BADDEST BADDIES ON NEAR: Most impactful ecosystem influencers.
- Best Data Analyst: Leading data analytics contributors.
- BEST ARTISTS: Most talented active artists in 2024.
- Most Helpful NEARIAN: Most supportive community member.
- Most Likely to Be involved with the most projects on NEAR: Most actively engaged ecosystem participant.
- BEST BD at NEAR: Top business development contributor.
- BIGGEST VIBE ON NEAR: Most positive ecosystem influence.
- Most Cracked NEAR Dev: Most skilled technical developer.
- Biggest Degen on NEAR: Most active ecosystem participant.
- BEST DEV REL: Excellence in developer relations, support, and ecosystem growth.
- BEST NEAR ECO LAWYER: Leading legal representation for NEAR projects.
Well, that’s all folks. For support, join the POTLOCK community channel. Let the best NEARIANs win.
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