Aurora

• Aurora is an Ethereum Virtual Machine running on the NEAR Protocol, letting Ethereum applications deploy on NEAR.

• It provides Ethereum compatibility with NEAR's lower fees and faster finality.

• AURORA is the governance token.

• Supply allocated across community, ecosystem and contributors.

• Used for governance over protocol parameters.

Pros:

• Ethereum applications deploy without modification while gaining NEAR's performance.

• Backed by the NEAR ecosystem with established infrastructure.

• Aurora Cloud lets enterprises run dedicated chains.

Cons:

• Dependent on NEAR ecosystem growth, which has lagged competing Layer 1s.

• Ethereum Layer 2s offer similar compatibility with stronger security inheritance.

• Activity has been modest since launch.

• Exposure to Ethereum compatibility on NEAR.

• Enterprise chain product diversifies the offering.

• Weigh that Ethereum Layer 2s compete directly with better security inheritance.

• Full Ethereum compatibility running on NEAR, so applications gain NEAR's throughput without rewriting for a different virtual machine.

• Ethereum applications cannot access other chains' performance without being rewritten.

• An EVM on another chain removes the rewrite requirement entirely.

• Developed by Aurora Labs within the NEAR ecosystem.

• Founded by Alex Shevchenko.

• No public ICO. Distributed through community allocations and ecosystem programmes in 2021.

• NEAR ecosystem growth has lagged competitors.

• Ethereum Layer 2s compete with stronger security inheritance.

• Modest activity since launch.

• Governance token with limited value capture.