NEAR Goes Quantum-Ready, Ledger in Tow 📡

NEAR Protocol [NEAR] has rolled out upgrade 2.13 on testnet, introducing post-quantum-safe access keys built on the FIPS-204 signing scheme approved by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The new signature scheme is designed to repel and withstand quantum attacks, a concern heightened after Google warned in March that future quantum machines could compromise the cryptography securing Bitcoin [BTC]. Dynamic resharding was also enabled in the upgrade, allowing the network to split shards as they fill with state and scale automatically without requiring a separate upgrade. NEAR Protocol said it is working with hardware wallet maker Ledger to align device security for the post-quantum era.

Market activity picked up after the announcement. On July 1, buy volume on NEAR reached 16.8 million while sell volume climbed to 16.5 million, a positive delta of 200,000. On July 2, the delta widened to 500,000 as buyers outpaced sellers for a second straight day. Derivatives participation also expanded, with CoinGlass reporting derivatives volume up 19% to $475 million and open interest up 7.5% to $409 million.

NEAR's price reversed a prior downtrend, holding support at $1.70 before climbing to $1.92. At the time of writing, NEAR traded at $1.91, up 5.4% on the daily chart, with trading volume rising 16% over the same period. On the technical side, the daily Relative Strength Index formed a bullish crossover and rose to 46, while the positive directional indicator (+DI) of the DMI climbed to 19. If demand persists and the RSI flips above 50, NEAR could attempt to reclaim the $2 level, with $2.5 as the next barrier; a fade in demand could see the token retreat toward $1.70.