MyNearWallet Closes October 31: How to Move Your NEAR Safely

MyNearWallet stops operating on October 31, 2026, NEAR Protocol announced on October 6. Your tokens were never inside the wallet: they sit on the NEAR blockchain, so the shutdown removes a way in, not your money. There are two routes out. Open the same account in another wallet with your recovery phrase, or send your assets to a new account, such as a near.com passkey account. Either way, start the move yourself, never share your phrase, and test with a small amount first.

Key takeaways

• NEAR says MyNearWallet closes on October 31, 2026, and that "your assets are stored onchain."
• The official pointers differ. NEAR's announcement points to near.com, while MyNearWallet's sunset notice, as reported, names Meteor Wallet and other supported wallets.
• Importing your account into another wallet keeps balances, stakes and NFTs in place. Moving to a new account means unstaking first and sending each asset.
• Nobody from NEAR or MyNearWallet will ask for your recovery phrase. Treat anyone who does as an impostor.

What is closing, and what isn't?

MyNearWallet is a non-custodial web wallet: an app that holds the key to your NEAR account, not the account itself. On October 6, NEAR Protocol said on X that the wallet would be shut down on October 31. "Your assets are stored onchain. You only need a new way to access them," the post said, as quoted by CryptoTicker.

That matches how NEAR accounts work. Accounts are controlled by access keys, and NEAR's documentation is explicit: "Every account in NEAR can hold multiple keys." A full-access key can transfer NEAR, add or remove keys and delete the account, so whoever holds one controls the account. Keys you hold elsewhere keep working after the shutdown. The real risk is a key that exists nowhere except inside MyNearWallet.

The wind-down is already under way. CryptoTicker reports that MyNearWallet's sunset notice describes a phased plan in which the wallet shrinks to migration and recovery tools from October and becomes a static information page in 2027. Plan as if October 31 is your last working day with it.

Where does NEAR say to go?

Here the official sources point in different directions, and you should know both.

• near.com. NEAR's October 6 announcement points users to near.com accounts, which CryptoTicker describes as controlled by a passkey and working across more than 30 chains. NEAR launched near.com as a wallet and consumer app on February 23, 2026, CoinDesk reported.
• Meteor Wallet and other wallets. MyNearWallet's own sunset notice, according to CryptoTicker, names Meteor Wallet as the expected migration route and says other supported wallets will be named later.
• NEAR's wallet directory. NEAR's page at wallet.near.org lists NEAR Mobile, Meteor, HOT, Intear, Nightly and Sweat, plus a way to use an Ethereum wallet with NEAR. NEAR's docs call it a curated list. As of mid-October 2026, neither MyNearWallet nor near.com appears on it.

We don't rank these options. The right one depends on whether you want to keep your account name, which devices you use and whether you sign with a hardware wallet.

Which route fits you: import or transfer?

Route 1: Open the same account in another wallet

This keeps everything where it is. NEAR's docs describe two steps: use your current wallet's backup or export option to get your recovery phrase or private key, then choose import or restore in the new wallet and enter it. Because it's the same account, your balances, stakes and NFTs come with it, and no tokens move.

The risk sits in the phrase itself. NEAR's docs warn that anyone with your seed phrase or private key "can control your account." Type it only into a wallet you installed yourself from its official site or app store, never into a website someone sent you, a form, a chat or a support agent. Our guide to custody risk explains the trade-off of holding your own keys.

Route 2: Move your assets to a new account

This is a transfer, so it costs small network fees and needs care. NEAR's migration guidance, as reported by ChainCatcher and CryptoTicker, says to:

1. Send a small test amount first and confirm it arrives.
2. Use a fresh deposit address from the new account for each transfer. The deposit addresses are single-use.
3. Move one asset at a time, waiting for each transfer to finish.
4. Keep your MyNearWallet recovery details until every balance shows up in the new account.

Staked NEAR can't be sent until it is unstaked. NEAR's staking docs say un-delegated tokens enter a four-epoch unbonding period before you can withdraw them; the same page gives that as about 24 hours in one place and about 48 hours in another. Start early enough that unbonding finishes well before October 31.

What if you can't find your recovery phrase?

This is the case the deadline is really about. If your account's key lives nowhere but MyNearWallet in your browser, save a copy now, while the wallet still works; NEAR's docs point to your current wallet's backup or export flow. Write the phrase on paper and keep it offline. Do it on your own device, with nobody "helping" on a call.

If you used a hardware wallet with MyNearWallet, the key stays on the device. Check that your new wallet supports it before you start.

A NEAR block explorer such as NearBlocks shows an account's balance, staked balance, tokens and access keys by account name, without connecting a wallet. Look your account up before you begin and again when you finish.

How do you avoid getting phished during the move?

In our view, a deadline is when phishing works best: people are rushed, and a fake "migration helper" looks like a favor. NEAR's guidance is plain that the NEAR Foundation, MyNearWallet and their support staff will not ask for recovery phrases or private keys. A few habits close most of the gaps:

• Start the move yourself. Ignore emails, DMs and "support" accounts that contact you first, however official they look.
• Type addresses yourself. Go to the wallet's site or NEAR's directory directly. The FBI's advice for its own website applies here too: sponsored search results can be paid imitators.
• Check every character of the receiving address, not just the first and last few, and send the test amount first.
• Keep the old phrase safe after you finish. It still controls the old account.

Impersonation recurs across the biggest AI crypto scams. If you lose money to someone posing as wallet support, report it in the U.S. to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov and to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov, and keep the transaction IDs.

What the AI Score shows

A wallet closing doesn't change the token. The AI Score rates NEAR, like every AI token we track, on five questions, from "Is anyone building it?" to "Is the market agreeing?" None of them is about which app holds your keys, so treat this move as a security task, not a market signal.

Check any token's AI Score on AiTokens.app before you decide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will I lose my NEAR if I don't move it by October 31? NEAR says assets are stored on-chain, so they don't vanish when the wallet closes. What you can lose is your way in. If your key exists nowhere but MyNearWallet, save a recovery phrase or key before October 31.

Is near.com the official replacement? NEAR's October 6 announcement points to near.com passkey accounts. MyNearWallet's sunset notice, as reported, names Meteor Wallet and other supported wallets. Both come from official channels, so check each again before you move.

Do I need to unstake my NEAR? Only if you're moving to a new account. If you import the same account into another wallet, your stake stays with the account. If you're sending to a new account, unstake first and allow the four-epoch unbonding period.

Someone offered to help me migrate. Is that safe? No one from the NEAR Foundation, MyNearWallet or their support staff will ask for your recovery phrase or private key. Treat unsolicited help as an impostor and start the move yourself.

Sources

• CryptoTicker, Dennis Weidner: MyNearWallet Closes on October 31: What It Means for Your NEAR Coins, October 8, 2026 (quotes NEAR Protocol's October 6 post and the MyNearWallet sunset notice)
• ChainCatcher: NEAR: MyNearWallet will cease operations on October 31, October 6, 2026
• NEAR documentation: Access Keys, accessed October 16, 2026
• NEAR documentation: Create an Account (importing existing accounts), accessed October 16, 2026
• NEAR documentation: Validator Staking, accessed October 16, 2026
• CoinDesk, Margaux Nijkerk: NEAR Launches Near.com super app, touting AI capabilities and confidential transactions, February 23, 2026
• FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center: Threat Actors Spoofing the FBI IC3 Website for Possible Malicious Activity, September 19, 2025

This article is for educational purposes and is not financial advice.