MyNearWallet will be deprecated on October 31, 2026, as part of a planned sunset process the NEAR ecosystem announced to consolidate users toward a smaller set of actively maintained wallets.
"MyNearWallet will be sunset on October 31," NEAR Protocol posted on X. "Your assets are stored onchain. You only need a new way to access them."
The wallet's own sunset documentation confirmed user funds remain unaffected regardless of which wallet interface they use.
"Your account, tokens, staking positions, NFTs, and on-chain assets remain safe," the notice stated. "Your assets are stored on the NEAR blockchain and are not held by MyNearWallet itself."
Why NEAR is consolidating its wallet ecosystem
MyNearWallet originated as a continuation of the original NEAR Wallet and has served the network for several years. The sunset notice framed the decision as a strategic shift rather than a response to any specific failure.
"As the NEAR ecosystem continues to evolve, the focus is shifting toward a smaller number of actively maintained wallets that provide broader functionality, improved user experience, and ongoing development," the documentation stated.
Wallet consolidation of this kind is not unique to NEAR. Ethereum's ecosystem went through a comparable period in the early 2020s as MetaMask, Rainbow, and other wallets absorbed market share from smaller, less actively maintained interfaces, often because a fragmented wallet landscape makes it harder for ecosystem-wide features like new signature schemes or chain integrations to reach all users simultaneously. NEAR's own recent infrastructure moves, including the Keeper rebrand that added multichain support to the former Tonkeeper, and the broader NEAR Intents cross-chain system, reflect the same underlying logic: fewer, more capable wallets reduce the surface area NEAR's core development team needs to coordinate with when shipping new features across the ecosystem.
Meteor Wallet emerges as the recommended destination
While NEAR said supported wallet options will be communicated as migration progresses, Meteor Wallet is expected to serve as the primary recommended path. The documentation cited three specific reasons: continuity with MyNearWallet's existing maintenance team, support across mobile, browser extension, and web platforms, and a planned guided migration experience built specifically for MyNearWallet users. Users remain free to migrate to other supported NEAR ecosystem wallets instead.
NEAR's own X announcement pointed users toward near.com directly, describing it as a destination to "swap, pay, earn, and more across 30+ chains, confidential by default." That framing connects this wallet sunset to NEAR's broader platform ambitions. NEAR Intents has processed more than $32 billion in cross-chain volume as of September 2026, up from under $1 billion a year earlier, positioning near.com as a consolidated entry point into that liquidity rather than treating MyNearWallet's deprecation as an isolated maintenance decision.
The four-phase timeline users need to track
The sunset process runs across four distinct phases. An initial awareness phase began in July 2026, including wallet notices and FAQ publication. Guided migration flows became available between August and September 2026, encouraging users to begin the transition voluntarily. From October through December 2026, MyNearWallet transitions into a migration and recovery-focused experience with reduced functionality. Starting in 2027, the wallet moves into a purely recovery-focused state before eventually becoming a static informational page.
Beginning in October 2026, certain wallet functionality may be restricted or removed entirely, though migration and recovery tools will remain accessible throughout.
How the actual migration process works
NEAR published a step-by-step guide for moving assets into a near.com account secured by a passkey rather than a traditional seed phrase. The guide includes specific safety instructions: test the transfer flow with a small amount first, use the "Deposit from connected wallet" function every time since deposit addresses are single-use, move one asset at a time and wait for each transfer to complete before starting the next, and retain MyNearWallet recovery information until every balance confirms in the new account.
Passkey-based account security, which near.com uses instead of a traditional 12 or 24-word seed phrase, relies on device-level biometric or hardware authentication standards similar to those Apple and Google have popularized for app and device logins. This represents a meaningful shift in how NEAR accounts are secured, since a passkey removes the single point of failure a written-down or digitally stored seed phrase represents, while introducing a different dependency on the specific device or platform where the passkey is registered.
The standard sunset-period scam warning
Both NEAR and MyNearWallet's documentation included explicit phishing warnings, a standard precaution during any wallet migration when users are primed to follow unfamiliar links and enter credentials into new interfaces.
"Never share your seed phrase, private key, recovery phrase, or account credentials with anyone," the sunset notice stated. "MyNearWallet, Meteor Wallet, the NEAR Foundation, and legitimate support staff will never ask you for" any of that information.
The documentation further emphasized verifying all announcements through official channels, consistent with the pattern seen during other recent wallet transitions and sunset processes across the industry, where scammers have historically exploited the confusion and urgency surrounding migration deadlines to impersonate official support staff.
Roman Zaika
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