The simplest way to create NEAR accounts is through the NEAR Wallet, however, you can also createaccounts using local tools.
The NEAR Wallet
The NEAR wallet is our web-based user-friendly wallet. You can readily use it without installing software or add-ons.
Testnet
In testnet you can directly create named accounts. Simply go to the wallet,pick a name, and you are ready to go. Remember to save somewhere safe the mnemonic phrase.
Mainnet
In the mainnet wallet you will be first given an implicit account, which you need to fund. Afterthat, you can use your implicit account to create a named one.
Local Implicit Account
Create an implicit account locally takes two steps: first you create a key-pair locally, and then you derive its address.
1. Create a ED25519 key-pair locally using near cli
# 1. Generate key pair
near generate-key my-new-account
A new key-pair will be stored at ~/.near-credentials/testnet/my-new-account.json.
2. Convert the public_key to an account ID.
Use near-cli once more to convert the public_key from the .json file to its related NEAR account address.
# Open the javascript console of near-cli
near repl
// Paste this code in the javascript console
const pk58 = 'ed25519:<data>'
nearAPI.utils.PublicKey.fromString(pk58).data.hexSlice()
The output string will be the account ID in hex (without '), for example 98793cd91a3f870fb126f66285808c7e094afcfc4eda8a970f6648cdf0dbd6de.
You can now share this id with someone and ask them to transfer tokens. At least 0.001Ⓝ is needed to start using the account.
tip
You can also use other languages to infer the implicit address, for example, in python you can use the base58 package: base58.b58decode(<data>).hex()
Local Named Account
In order to create a named account you have to ask the relevant smart contract to create a sub-account for you: near in mainnet, and testnet in testnet.
You can use near-cli for this:
near call testnet create_account '{"new_account_id": "<account-name>.testnet", "new_public_key": "ed25519:<data>"}' --deposit 0.00182 --accountId <account-with-funds>
Notice that you need an already funded account, since you are making a contract call.
tip
The public key that you pass will become the Full Access key of the account.
info
For sub-accounts check the near-cli create-account docs.
