NEAR Protocol Deploys Quantum-Resistant Keys and Dynamic Resharding in v2.13

NEAR Protocol has launched upgrade 2.13 on testnet, introducing post-quantum cryptography and automatic sharding scaling — developments that coincided with a 5.4% price rally in NEAR and a 19% surge in derivatives trading volume.

The upgrade adds post-quantum-safe access keys based on the FIPS-204 signing scheme, which has been approved by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The implementation is designed to protect user accounts from cryptographic attacks that future quantum computers could theoretically execute. The move follows a March warning from Google that next-generation quantum hardware could undermine the cryptographic foundations securing Bitcoin and other blockchain networks.

The second major component of the upgrade is dynamic resharding, a mechanism that allows the NEAR network to scale automatically in response to demand. Under this system, shards split autonomously as state capacity fills, removing the need for manual protocol upgrades to handle increased load. The combination of both features positions NEAR as one of the earlier Layer-1 networks to address quantum risk at the protocol level while simultaneously improving throughput efficiency.

To support the hardware security dimension of the quantum-resistant rollout, NEAR Protocol announced a collaboration with Ledger. The partnership is intended to align hardware wallet infrastructure with the requirements of the post-quantum cryptographic era.

Market participants responded to the upgrade news with renewed activity. On July 1, buy volume reached 16.8 million against sell volume of 16.5 million, producing a positive delta of 200,000. The following day, July 2, the positive delta widened to 500,000, according to data from Coinalyze. A positive delta indicates that buying pressure outpaced selling for the first time in five consecutive days.

On the derivatives side, CoinGlass data showed Derivatives Volume climbing 19% to $475 million, while Open Interest rose 7.5% to $409 million at the time of writing. The simultaneous increase in both metrics suggested that traders were actively opening new positions in response to the upgrade announcement rather than simply closing existing ones.

In spot markets, NEAR reversed a prior downtrend, found support at $1.70, and advanced to $1.92. At the time of publication, the token was trading at $1.91, a 5.4% gain on the day, accompanied by a 16% increase in spot trading volume.

Technical indicators reinforced the bullish shift. The Daily Relative Strength Index formed a bullish crossover and rose to 46, while the +DI line of the Directional Movement Index climbed to 19, signaling growing upward momentum. Should buying pressure persist, RSI crossing above 50 would technically validate the trend and open a path toward the $2.00 resistance level. A break above that zone would place $2.50 as the next key barrier. Conversely, if the current demand proves short-lived, NEAR could pull back toward the $1.70 support level that anchored the most recent recovery.