# Near Protocol Number of validators Methodology

## 1. Overview

Number of validators measures the number of active nodes that produce blocks and secure the network on Near Protocol. This metric reflects the degree of decentralization and resilience of the blockchain. Only accounts with an active staked balance are considered part of the validator set, as staking is the primary mechanism for participating in the consensus and security of the network.

## 2. Data sources

- **Blockchain events**: account change records and receipt data from Near Protocol
- **External data**: asset metadata for decimal normalization

## 3. Step-by-step calculation

### Component A: Account balance state tracking

- **Purpose**: Maintain a historical record of staked and non-staked balances for all accounts on Near Protocol
- **Logic**: Account state changes are parsed from `account_changes` records and joined with transaction receipt data. The latest balance state for each affected account is identified within every block. These balances are normalized by decimal precision. To ensure a continuous daily time series, the last known balance for each account is forward-filled across days where no changes were recorded.
- **Key fields**: `affected_account_staked_balance` (staked quantity), `affected_account_id` (validator address), `block_timestamp` (timing)

### Component B: Validator identification

- **Purpose**: Filter the total set of accounts to isolate active validators
- **Logic**: Accounts are evaluated based on their staked balance at the end of each day. A threshold is applied where only accounts with a staked balance greater than zero are identified as active validators. This ensures that the metric only includes nodes actively securing the network through the proof-of-stake mechanism.
- **Key fields**: `staked_balance` (identifying active participation)

### Component C: Daily aggregation

- **Purpose**: Generate a daily count of unique validators
- **Logic**: The total number of unique account addresses meeting the validator criteria is counted for each UTC day. The final values are aggregated to provide a daily representation of the validator set size. Missing data points are filled with zeros to maintain consistent time series reporting.
- **Key fields**: `account_address` (unique node identifier), `timestamp` (daily grain)

*This methodology was automatically generated by Token Terminal's methodology analyzer.*

Number of active validators securing the network.

Number of validators

Blockchains (L1)

Validators process transactions and receive validator rewards (supply-side fees).

NEAR Protocol is a smart contract platform for decentralized applications (a blockchain). NEAR Protocol was founded by Alexander Skidanov & Ilya Polosukhin and launched in 2017.

NEAR holders own and govern the protocol. They currently take (burn) all of the total transaction fees paid by users (revenue). NEAR Protocol's investors include a16z, Pantera Capital, Libertus, etc.