NEAR Protocol Rolls Out Quantum-Resistant Account Keys, Trading Volume Tops $33 Billion

NEAR Protocol has begun letting account holders add quantum-resistant digital signatures without moving a single token, a design choice that sidesteps the painful asset migrations other blockchains may eventually face. The opt-in feature arrived with the network's July nearcore 2.13 upgrade and drew fresh attention Friday after co-founder Illia Polosukhin detailed how users can rotate access keys to the new ML-DSA-65 signing scheme.

The move sent NEAR's price up more than 11% on Saturday, with the token among the most-traded tickers on Stocktwits. Trading through NEAR Intents, the protocol's cross-chain system, has now passed $33.29 billion in cumulative decentralized exchange volume, according to DefiLlama data, with $4.76 billion of that occurring in the past 30 days.

How the Key Rotation Works

The core of the change rests on a technical proposal known as NEP-645. Under NEAR's architecture, account IDs are deliberately decoupled from individual cryptographic keys. That separation means a user can add an ML-DSA-65 key to an existing account, then use it to sign transactions, all without creating a new account or transferring holdings elsewhere.

Polosukhin said the network designed its account model with future quantum safety in mind as early as 2018. Developers can rotate keys using the NEAR CLI, and the team is working with hardware and software wallet makers, including Ledger, to bring post-quantum support to a broader user base.

Voluntary Protection, Not Network-Wide

The upgrade is voluntary. Existing keys and wallets continue to function, and an account only gains quantum resistance once its owner actively adds and uses the new key. If an older key remains active, that access route keeps its original security limitations.

The protection also stops short of covering every corner of the network. Validator keys still rely on existing cryptography, according to the supplied information, leaving parts of the infrastructure outside the new scheme's reach. Polosukhin's therefore describe account-level protection through key updates rather than complete network-wide quantum resistance.

A separate proposal, NEP-655, would hide account keys entirely and is currently running on a test network. A full launch is expected within weeks.

The 2.13 upgrade also introduced dynamic resharding, allowing the network to split shards automatically once they hit defined state-size thresholds. Previously, adding shards required protocol upgrades and coordinated action from validators.

Bullish Signals From Analysts and Conferences

Analyst Michael van de Poppe described NEAR's chart as "such a beautiful chart," adding that a sweep of the lows was bullish from a day-trading perspective. He said he expected "a little pullback" before the token moved "back upwards towards new yearly highs." He argued investors should be more bullish this cycle, suggesting that if the market resembles 2017, returns could be substantial as adoption accelerates.

At the TOKEN2049 Singapore conference, RollUp founder Andy posted a video indicating that Arthur Hayes remained bullish on NEAR. Polosukhin was also seen joking at the event the token reaching triple digits.

Token Economics and Buyback Activity

Beyond the quantum headlines, a draft proposal filed Wednesday would cut maximum annual token issuance to 1.6% from 2.5% over two years. The protocol's Intents system has also been channeling fees back to holders: of the $7.81 million in fees collected over the past month, $2.15 million was used to buy NEAR on the open market and return it to holders.

Total value locked in the system stood at roughly $223 million, according to DefiLlama. The team said it is designing Intents' wallet contracts to accept ML-DSA signatures as well, tying the cross-chain trading infrastructure into the same quantum-safety roadmap.

Note: Figures sourced from DefiLlama data cited in the coverage.

The combination of quantum-resistant key support, dynamic resharding, and token issuance reduction proposals has positioned NEAR as one of the more proactive layer-1 networks on the quantum-readiness front. Whether the voluntary nature of the key rotation dampens its practical impact remains an open question, but the market's immediate response suggests investors are treating the announcement as a meaningful step forward.