NEAR Protocol Announces Post-Quantum-Safe Signing Testnet for Q2 2026 Amid Growing Quantum Computing Concerns

NEAR Protocol plans to launch a post-quantum-safe signing testnet before the end of Q2 2026 using the FIPS-204 standard (ML-DSA, formerly CRYSTALS-Dilithium), a lattice-based algorithm standardized by NIST in August 2024. The move comes as quantum computing threats intensify, with Google Quantum AI's March 2026 paper estimating that breaking 256-bit elliptic-curve cryptography could require roughly 20 times fewer resources than previously believed. NEAR's architecture allows users to rotate keys to quantum-resistant alternatives through a single transaction without address migration, though current hardware wallets do not support quantum-safe signing. Other major blockchains including Ethereum, Solana, XRPL, and Algorand have also published post-quantum roadmaps, while Google has set a 2029 internal deadline for its own migration.

Post-quantum signing testnet

• ▪FIPS-204 is a lattice-based digital signature algorithm that was formally standardized by NIST in August 2024
• ▪NEAR Protocol plans to launch a post-quantum-safe signing scheme testnet before the end of Q2 2026
• ▪NEAR Protocol chose FIPS-204 (ML-DSA, formerly known as CRYSTALS-Dilithium) as its post-quantum signing scheme

NEAR account architecture advantage

• ▪NEAR Protocol account holders will be able to run a single transaction to rotate their keys to a quantum-safe scheme without address migration once the new signing scheme goes live
• ▪NEAR Protocol accounts use human-readable IDs and are controlled through rotatable access keys rather than being permanently bound to a single keypair
• ▪NEAR Protocol currently supports two signing schemes: EdDSA (Ed25519) by default and ECDSA (secp256k1)
• ▪Neither EdDSA (Ed25519) nor ECDSA (secp256k1) is quantum-safe

Hardware wallet compatibility challenges

• ▪Current crypto hardware wallets do not support quantum-safe signing at all
• ▪Near One is working with software and hardware wallet builders, including Ledger, to align on post-quantum plans
• ▪Post-quantum signing schemes require significantly larger key and signature sizes that will affect wallets, APIs, hardware devices, and user workflows

Cross-chain quantum safety

• ▪NEAR Protocol currently facilitates threshold signatures to over 35 chains via the Chain Signatures MPC network
• ▪The Defuse team operates the NEAR Intents cross-chain swap infrastructure
• ▪The Defuse team is working to bring quantum-safe Chain Signatures to all NEAR Intents users regardless of which chain they originate from

Seed phrase fallback mechanism

• ▪Most private keys are derived from a seed phrase via a hashing step, and hash functions are not broken by quantum computing

Industry quantum threat timeline

• ▪Google Quantum AI's March 2026 paper estimated that breaking 256-bit elliptic-curve cryptography could require roughly 20 times fewer resources than previously believed
• ▪Google has set a 2029 internal deadline for migrating its own systems to post-quantum cryptography
• ▪NEAR Protocol was trading around $1.51 on May 11, 2026, up roughly 19% in the past 24 hours
• ▪Ethereum formed a dedicated Post-Quantum Security team in January 2026

Perspective of Project Eleven

• ▪Project Eleven expresses concern that Bitcoin may face challenges in migrating to quantum-resistant cryptography
• ▪Project Eleven warns that quantum computing threatens blockchains, banking systems, and digital infrastructure