Blockchain Quantum Readiness Index / NEAR
L1 · NEAR
NEAR
Users can already hold funds on mainnet under ML-DSA access keys, a NIST post-quantum signature. Validators and staking still sign with elliptic-curve keys (post-quantum consensus is on the roadmap for the end of 2027), the core team's bridge verifies with elliptic-curve signatures too, and the old key types are explicitly not deprecated.
Last reviewed 2026-10-19
Is NEAR quantum safe?
Not yet. NEAR is at Stage 4 (Live option) in LimeChain's Blockchain Quantum Readiness Index, with a progress score of 40.7/100. Users can already hold funds under a post-quantum key on mainnet, but it does not yet meet the escape-hatch bar: an approved standard, a current audit and post-quantum consensus work. Still exposed or unproven: bridges & messaging.
What NEAR needs for Stage 5: Escape hatch
- Stage 5 needs a valid audit of the deployed PQ code (not claimed)
- Stage 5 needs C at least in-dev (is: planned)
Caps and adjustments
- cap 60: consensus PQ not even on testnet
Rosette slices
| Slice | State | Points | Weight | Reason & evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U User keys | Live (PQ) approved ML-DSA · ML-DSA-65 · NIST category 3 ML-DSA-65 At rest: PQ-protected at rest Best option: an account (named, or an implicit one kept alive) whose ed25519/secp256k1 access keys are deleted so only ML-DSA-65 full-access keys remain. DeleteKey can remove any key, parents have no control over sub-accounts, and upgrades use no admin keys, so no ECC key can move or re-key it. Caveats: an implicit account's address is its original ed25519 public key; if the account is deleted, a later transfer recreates it under that key; a deployed contract could add keys. Default wallet accounts remain ed25519 (exposed: implicit address = ed25519 public key). |
10/10 | 25 | ML-DSA-65 access keys (full-access and function-call) are usable on mainnet: neard 2.13 stabilized them and the mainnet head was measured at protocol version 86 on 2026-10-12. |
| C Consensus | Planned | 2/10 | 20 | Validator/staking keys remain ed25519-only under NEP-645, so consensus still signs with ECC. The Near One roadmap (2026-08-24) makes post-quantum validator and chunk-producer signatures the next step, targeting end of 2027. |
| P Proof system | Not applicable | — | — | L1 without a validity or fraud proof system. no evidence |
| B Bridges & messaging | Exposed | 0/10 | 15 | The core team operates the canonical bridge, the Omni Bridge (Rainbow Bridge successor, repo Near-One/omni-bridge), documented in the official protocol docs. Verification is all-ECC: light clients verify NEAR's Ed25519 validator signatures (and Ethereum's BLS); several routes use Wormhole's guardian set or the Chain Signatures MPC service. |
| A Admin & upgrade keys | Not applicable | — | — | Protocol changes ship via neard releases activated by validator protocol-upgrade voting; there are no on-chain admin/upgrade keys. Sources 2 |
| M Migration & recovery | Discussed | 1/10 | 15 | No ratified migration or ECC-sunset plan exists; NEP-645 explicitly leaves ed25519/secp256k1 not deprecated and defers consensus keys and other follow-ups. Sources 1 |
Stage gates
| Requirement | Status | Details & evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Current audit of the deployed PQ signing code (Stage 5) | Not met | not claimed |
| Admin timelock of at least 30 days with a PQ override (Stage 6, alternative to PQ admin keys) | Not met | not claimed |
| Ratified migration plan with an activation date (Stage 6) | Not met | not claimed |
| New accounts PQ or hybrid by default (Stage 6) | Not met | not claimed |
| ECC sunset enforced (Stage 7) | Not met | not claimed |
PQ adoption published, not scored
No published adoption numbers were found yet. Having PQ accounts does not mean people move to them. This tracks the share of value and accounts that actually moved, over time.
Measured exposure
No on-chain probe run yet. Bitcoin, Solana, Cosmos and Substrate probes are planned.
Evidence and sources (9)
Every non-zero rating above cites at least one of these public sources.
- github.com/near/NEPs/blob/master/neps/nep-0645.md
- github.com/near/nearcore/releases/tag/2.13.0
- raw.githubusercontent.com/near/NEPs/master/neps/nep-0645.md
- docs.near.org/protocol/accounts-contracts/access-keys
- docs.near.org/protocol/accounts-contracts/account-id
- fireblocks.com/blog/post-quantum-key-rotation-ml-dsa-near
- near.org/blog/near-quantum-safe-roadmap
- docs.near.org/chain-abstraction/omnibridge/overview
- docs.near.org/chain-abstraction/omnibridge/how-it-works
Source: chains/near.json. Reproduce: python3 score.py chains/near.json
Building on NEAR?
LimeChain helps teams plan their post-quantum migration: what is exposed, what to change first, and the engineering to get there.
Talk to usOpen, repeatable scoring. Non-zero ratings need public evidence; missing evidence means unknown. Methodology v0.4 · mechanism registry 2026-10-13.