The NEAR Mobile app now supports post-quantum vaults, enabling phone users to hold and stake assets with accounts that sign transactions using ML-DSA. The update, announced by NEAR Mobile, extends the quantum-resistant account option that NEAR Protocol deployed to mainnet earlier this year. Users can send, receive, and stake from these vaults. The app also adds improved backup options, which may matter for people who do not want to manage a single seed phrase indefinitely.
What the mobile vaults do
These accounts use ML-DSA, short for Module-Lattice-Based Digital Signature Algorithm. The scheme is based on CRYSTALS-Dilithium, one of the algorithms NIST standardized after its post-quantum process. NIST released final versions of its first three post-quantum standards on August 13, 2024. For a mobile user, the change is simple on the surface: the app signs with a newer key type. Under the hood, it is a shift away from relying only on classical signatures that future quantum computers could eventually break.
How NEAR made the switch easier
NEAR Protocol activated post-quantum signing on mainnet on July 20, 2026, through its 2.13 network upgrade. A press release at the time said the upgrade made NEAR one of the first layer-1 blockchains with a NIST-approved post-quantum signing scheme live on mainnet. NEAR’s account model helped. Accounts use human-readable IDs controlled by rotatable access keys instead of a single keypair. That lets users switch signing methods without moving assets to a new account. The design choice is likely the reason this mobile update can arrive without asking users to rebuild their whole setup.
What is still missing
The upgrade does not make the whole NEAR network quantum-resistant. NEAR’s roadmap lists validator consensus as the next major step. It also notes that post-quantum signatures are much larger than other schemes, so the Near One team is working on efficiency. Several wallets in the NEAR community are adding support. Meteor Wallet is live, and others, including Ledger, are coming soon, according to the roadmap. A later report from The Quantum Insider said NEAR’s timeline includes consensus upgrades in the second half of 2027, with inbound cross-chain transactions starting in 2027.
For mobile users, the update adds a practical route to hold and stake assets in accounts secured by the newer signature scheme. It is not full quantum coverage for the network. But it does give phone users a way to move beyond classical keys alone, and the backup changes make the option a little easier to live with.
