quantum

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase stated that its custody holds about 5% of the total existing Bitcoin and urged Bitcoin developers to immediately address the threat of quantum computing. Coinbase pointed out that changes to Bitcoin consensus and ecological migration may take years and cannot wait until quantum computers capable of breaking signatures appear.Coinbase suggested adopting a flexible "container" design similar to BIP-360 to gradually replace quantum-resistant signature systems; it also proposed a phased implementation of a "1-of-2" scheme, allowing the same funds to be spent during the transition period using either traditional keys or quantum-resistant keys. This scheme also needs to be compatible with multi-party computation (MPC) key splitting mechanisms. Coinbase stated that dormant, lost, and Bitcoin held from the Satoshi era are separate governance issues, and any rescue mechanism itself must also possess quantum resistance. In January of this year, Coinbase established a quantum advisory council; in July, it joined the Bitcoin Security Alliance with BlackRock and Strategy, committing a total of $15 million for Bitcoin's quantum-resistant transformation.

Coinbase released a technical discussion article on Bitcoin's Post-Quantum Readiness, stating that Bitcoin needs to proactively address the cryptographic risks posed by quantum computing in the future and recommends that the community begin relevant migration preparations as soon as possible.Coinbase believes that Bitcoin's quantum-resistant upgrade involves not only selecting new quantum-resistant signature algorithms but also considering factors such as block space limitations, full node validation capabilities, institutional custody needs, ordinary wallet compatibility, and solutions for handling funds that cannot be migrated. Bitcoin should consider introducing output structures that support quantum-resistant signatures and explore hybrid solutions, such as allowing the same funds to have both traditional ECDSA/Schnorr signatures and quantum-resistant signatures as authorization paths for a smooth transition.Additionally, Coinbase emphasizes that the quantum migration will take years, and the community should complete preparations before the threat of quantum computing truly emerges. For BTC funds that have not migrated for a long time, lost private keys, or exposed public keys, Coinbase believes that solutions should still be sought through governance and technical discussions.

Mysten Labs reports that the Sui network has completed its first native post-quantum Devnet transaction. This Devnet implementation introduces the ML-DSA-65 account signature, allowing accounts to authorize transactions directly using this post-quantum signature scheme. ML-DSA-65 belongs to the ML-DSA series defined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) FIPS 204 standard, and Sui uses it as the native protocol signature scheme for everyday accounts.Sui is also planning to introduce a hash-based SLH-DSA-SHA2-128s (FIPS 205) for high-value vaults in Move smart contracts. The two schemes are based on lattice-based and hash-based mathematical problems, respectively, so a weakness in one scheme will not affect the other. Since Sui keys are deterministically derived from seeds, users can migrate to post-quantum keys using existing mnemonic phrases; the already launched address aliases allow accounts to update authorization keys without transferring assets.Post-quantum accounts are being rolled out in an optional, incremental manner, following the online path of zkLogin and passkey. Sui states that the goal for the post-quantum vault is to go live on the mainnet within this year, with the native ML-DSA-65 accounts aiming to enter the testnet by the end of the year, and the mainnet native account authentication goal set for the first quarter of 2027, with the final timeline depending on independent audits and testnet feedback.

According to Cointelegraph, Tron founder Justin Sun stated on X that Tron’s post-quantum cryptography has been launched on the testnet. He mentioned that the team is closely monitoring the progress of quantum computing and AI, ready to deploy post-quantum capabilities to the mainnet at any time, and is committed to ensuring the security of user assets. Tron is expected to become one of the few mainstream blockchains to achieve post-quantum readiness before Q-Day. Q-Day refers to the day when quantum computing is powerful enough to break current security standards.Developers are increasingly focused on post-quantum cryptography, as sufficiently powerful quantum computers could eventually break the elliptic curve cryptography used to secure blockchain networks like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Earlier this year, a consortium led by Strategy pledged $15 million to fund Bitcoin quantum security research, the Ethereum Foundation released a proposal to migrate accounts to post-quantum cryptography, and Algorand plans to introduce post-quantum accounts by 2027.In addition, blockchain security company AmericanFortress previously announced a cryptographic solution that can protect crypto wallets from future quantum attacks without requiring users to transfer funds, rotate keys, or change wallet addresses. This solution has been published in the form of a technical paper on Cryptography ePrint Archive and has not yet been peer-reviewed.

The official NEAR public chain stated on X that cryptographic agility is a fundamental requirement of the blockchain industry, and the upgrade of signature schemes should become routine. NEAR accounts now support post-quantum ML-DSA signature schemes without the need to migrate assets.The NEAR core development team, Near One, is advancing NEP-655. This proposal involves commitment-based implicit accounts derived from the initial state hash, with assets located after that hash, without exposing public keys or key hashes on-chain. The related functionality has currently been launched on the testnet, with the mainnet planned for release in the coming weeks.For developers, the team is designing the NEAR Intents wallet contract to support custom signature extensions, including ML-DSA and hash-based schemes. For chains that cannot currently add post-quantum keys, the team is advancing the Q-day recovery registry on NEAR, allowing users to submit recovery keys in a rotatable hash format. NEAR claims that quantum computing factors were considered in its design back in 2018.

The Ethereum scaling network Starknet, built by StarkWare, has indicated that it is actively considering transforming into an independent Layer 1 network (L1), with 2027 set as the target date to become the first fully quantum-resistant network. STRK was approximately $0.073 on Friday, up about 20% in 24 hours, more than doubling from around $0.03 in April.StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson stated that after becoming L1, Starknet will be able to control security upgrades independently, without waiting for Ethereum to advance related work. As a Layer 2 network (L2), Starknet currently relies on Ethereum for security; after transitioning to L1, it will verify and secure transactions on its own.Eli Ben-Sasson pointed out that quantum computers may potentially break the elliptic curve cryptography used by Bitcoin and Ethereum in the future, and developments in AI in the field of mathematics also pose another risk. The Ethereum roadmap is expected to complete its core quantum-resistant infrastructure around 2029, while Starknet plans to advance this to 2027; currently, no quantum computer exists that can break these systems.

Starknet published an article introducing the Quantum Secure Bitcoin solution (QSB), stating that StarkWare researchers have verified a quantum secure locking mechanism on the Bitcoin mainnet that does not require a soft fork, new opcodes, or modifications to consensus rules. The first QSB output was completed on August 26, 2026, in Bitcoin mainnet block 964,199, with related GPU computing costs dropping from approximately $320 to about $50.QSB constructs the locking mechanism through hash calculations, but each transaction still requires significant computation, and assets transferred into this solution still need to undergo traditional transactions that are subject to quantum risks. This transaction does not comply with the default relay rules of Bitcoin Core, and currently, there are no accompanying wallets, address formats, or recovery processes. StarkWare stated that QSB is an emergency research solution, and a long-term solution will still need to introduce post-quantum signature mechanisms through a soft fork. The comprehensive quantum security of Starknet also depends on the progress of Ethereum's underlying upgrades.

The Zcash development team plans to add post-quantum signature support to the network in January. Zakura engineer Roman Akhtariev stated in an engineering blog that the team plans to implement post-quantum signature opcodes in Zcash in January. These opcodes will enable Zcash to verify hash-based signatures, thereby resisting quantum computing attacks. The team has not yet confirmed a specific network activation date. This upgrade aims to prevent attackers from using current public keys to reverse-engineer and forge payment authorizations from wallet owners.The initial phase of this upgrade will protect transparent transactions. Zcash has two payment methods: shielded payments hide the sender, receiver, and amount; transparent payments are similar to Bitcoin, where addresses and amounts are visible on the chain. According to CoinDesk, based on ZecStats data, approximately 11.96 million of the 16.98 million issued ZEC are stored in the transparent pool, accounting for about 70%. The January plan primarily targets this public portion. Additionally, Zakura has developed a private query tool that allows wallets to check balances without exposing associated addresses to the server; the experimental version is available in the "Private queries" settings of the Zcash wallet Vizor.Before the release of Zakura's engineering article, Ethereum researcher Justin Drake warned holders on Thursday to prepare for what he called "bunker mode," stating that in the worst-case scenario, AI could find shortcuts to break the mathematical protections of Bitcoin and Ethereum wallets in "months rather than years."

StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson published an article discussing the necessity of upgrading Starknet to L1 to address threats from the post-quantum era. He pointed out that quantum computing threats may be closer than expected, and the rapid development of AI could break existing security assumptions, necessitating that blockchain enters a "shelter mode" to quickly achieve future-proofing.Key elements include: adopting appropriate cryptographic technologies, having cryptographic flexibility, and becoming an independent L1. As L2, Starknet relies on Ethereum's security. Ethereum aims to achieve full quantum resistance by the end of 2029, while Bitcoin has yet to make such a commitment. If Starknet upgrades to L1, it could achieve this by 2027. This move would allow it to independently control security migration, becoming a quantum-resistant network for public or private transactions and asset holdings.

Tachyon co-founder Sean Bowe posted on X, criticizing Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake's recent warnings about quantum threats. He stated that such vague alerts would cause harm on multiple levels and become self-harm for their quantum advocacy work.Sean Bowe stated: The threats from quantum and artificial intelligence are real, and industry teams are making prudent decisions on how to practically address risks and help users deal with uncertainty. Some teams have strong judgment from cryptographers, while others need to refer to trusted experts; due to the complex dimensions involved, the relevant trade-offs are almost impossible to explain to non-cryptographers, and experts should remain calm and take corresponding responsibility.He also mentioned that once the situation is clarified, people may find that this is at most an unintentional promotional move, resulting in a significant loss of trust, and no one knows how to proceed afterward. He believes that the judgment regarding the relevant direction is correct, that previous warnings were meaningful, but they have gradually turned into uncontrolled predictions lacking feedback constraints, which will long-term affect trust in reasonable concerns about classical cryptography. He pointed out that the other party admitted that there was no new information driving this and asked Justin Drake to explain why he thought this approach was correct.

According to CoinDesk, Project Eleven, which focuses on defending against future quantum computing attacks, and the privacy-oriented proof-of-work blockchain Quantus plan to complete integration in the first quarter of 2027. This will connect Quantus to Project Eleven's institutional custody platform Strongpoint, allowing institutions to manage Quantus keys and approve transactions through hardware security modules, internal policies, and audit systems.The significance of this integration goes beyond a single chain. Networks like Bitcoin and Ethereum are unlikely to adopt the same post-quantum signature schemes or migration paths. Banks holding multiple assets may need to adapt to various new cryptographic forms simultaneously, without weakening control over transaction approval, signing, and auditing. Alex Pruden, co-founder and CEO of Project Eleven, stated that this transition could become a barrier for institutions adopting cryptocurrencies, as they have already prepared for post-quantum transitions outside of blockchain.Christopher Smith, co-founder and CEO of Quantus, believes that AI is accelerating everything, including quantum hardware and quantum software. The tail risk of sudden quantum attacks must be incorporated into all portfolio decisions, as it falls under fiduciary duty. The design of Strongpoint decouples the institutional control layer from the signature schemes used by the underlying blockchain. Even if different cryptography is adopted on-chain, custodians can still retain approval processes, hardware key storage, and audit trails. Quantus uses the post-quantum signature standard ML-DSA selected by the National Institute of Standards and Technology for key generation and transaction signing.

Eli Ben-Sasson, co-founder and CEO of StarkWare, stated that Starknet, as an L2 relying on Ethereum's underlying security, is considering various options, including transitioning to L1, in order to independently control the network security migration process and address the cryptographic risks posed by quantum computing and AI.Starknet is built on ZK-STARK, possesses cryptographic agility, and has developed a post-quantum security migration roadmap. Ethereum plans to achieve full resistance to quantum attacks at L1 by the end of 2029, while Bitcoin has not made a similar commitment. Starknet expects to implement related upgrades as early as 2027.

The core development team of Solana, Anza developer Jacob Creech, stated that unlike some blockchains, Solana users do not need to urgently transfer assets due to AI-accelerated password cracking or quantum computing threats. He explained that Solana uses the Ed25519 signature algorithm, where the signing key is derived from a secret seed through hashing. Even if elliptic curve cryptography is cracked in the future, attackers cannot directly recover the original seed from it.Creech mentioned that theoretically, Solana could introduce a hash-based seed ownership proof through a network upgrade, allowing original holders to verify their identity and migrate to a more secure signing scheme. Anza has developed a related proof-of-concept prototype. He also emphasized that Solana is currently still secure and has a technical roadmap to address future cryptographic threats.

According to Galaxy Research, a certain Satoshi Nakamoto era address transferred 100.02 BTC (worth 8.55 million USD) after being dormant for 16 years, address: 1J3A7HovGXxK1GoCGMJpXGKa5sSwCrNHJ3.David Hoffman, founder of Bankless, stated that this transfer may be intended to prepare for quantum attacks.

On Wednesday, the European Union law enforcement agency Europol released two reports urging the industry and policymakers to proactively address the threats posed by quantum computing. One report, titled "Quantum Computing and Cryptocurrency," written by Europol's European Cybercrime Centre, points out that cryptocurrency wallets are "the main exposure point for quantum threats." Wallets rely on private keys for authorized transactions and public keys for verification; a sufficiently powerful quantum computer could derive the private key from an exposed public key, allowing attackers to access funds without authorization, a moment often referred to as Q-Day. The report states that the hash functions used to link blocks and support mining are fundamentally resistant to quantum attacks.The report believes that cryptocurrency will not collapse due to quantum computing but recommends adopting "proactive defenses," including a phased transition to quantum-resistant cryptography and improving wallet security and key management. Wallets with public keys exposed on-chain cannot be remedied afterward, and the report states that the only solution is to migrate in advance. Glassnode estimated in May this year that 6.04 million BTC (30.2% of the issued supply) have exposed public keys. Upgrading Bitcoin also comes with costs: NIST standardized post-quantum signatures are 10 to 120 times larger than the ECDSA signatures currently used in Bitcoin, which could lead to block space overload and increased transaction fees. The report cites a 2024 study estimating that migrating all unspent transaction outputs would require at least 76 days of cumulative downtime.The second report, "Collect First, Decrypt Later," was completed in collaboration with Carlos III University of Madrid in Spain. It studies the behavior of attackers who collect encrypted data today and decrypt it in the future, finding risks in protocols such as TLS, SSH, and OpenPGP.

The digital asset post-quantum security infrastructure company Project Eleven announced the acquisition of Riva Labs to enhance its capabilities in post-quantum signatures, wallets, multi-party computation (MPC), and account abstraction. This acquisition also includes the technology and intellectual property developed by Riva on Ethereum and other public chains.Riva Labs' work encompasses hash-based post-quantum signatures, post-quantum MPC, account abstraction, wallet infrastructure, and hardware signing, and has demonstrated post-quantum signatures on consumer-grade hardware. Project Eleven stated that the relevant teams and technologies will be integrated into its research and product work in post-quantum cryptography, digital asset custody, and blockchain security. Riva will also bring its practices of using artificial intelligence in research and engineering processes into the company.Project Eleven's CEO and co-founder Alex Pruden stated that the acquisition will strengthen the research and engineering teams and accelerate the transition of digital assets to post-quantum security. Riva Labs co-founder Matteo Vena mentioned that both parties share a similar judgment on the tools needed in the industry, and joining Project Eleven will allow for a larger-scale advancement of public chain upgrades.

Ledger CTO Charles Guillemet stated that he disagrees with the view that "only about 30% of BTC faces quantum computing risks, while the remaining approximately 70% is secure due to public key hashing."Glassnode data shows that currently about 30.2% of BTC has exposed spending public keys on-chain, but Guillemet pointed out that this only reflects the static state on-chain; unexposed public keys may still exist in xpub, devices, PSBT, logs, or backups; and once a BTC transaction is initiated, the public key will be revealed before the transaction is confirmed.Guillemet cited research from Google Quantum AI stating that under currently non-existent high-speed quantum computer models, attacks on secp256k1 could be completed in about 9 minutes. Therefore, simply hiding public keys cannot solve the quantum risk, and Bitcoin will ultimately need to migrate to post-quantum cryptography.

StarkWare stated in an update on September 23 that the estimated GPU computing cost for preparing a quantum secure Bitcoin (QSB) transaction has dropped to below $67, a decrease of about 79% compared to the approximately $320 computing expenditure for the first similar mainnet transaction in August. According to StarkWare, the first QSB transaction was packaged and confirmed on August 26, with the engineering work completed by Tomer Giladi, and submitted directly through MARA's Slipstream service. The preparation process consumed about 3100 GPU hours, utilized around 100 GPUs, and incurred a computing cost of approximately $320, excluding Bitcoin network transaction fees.This cost reduction resulted from the quantum secure Bitcoin optimization challenge initiated on September 16 by StarkWare, Yukon Research, and Eigen Labs. The challenge invited developers, researchers, and AI agents to optimize transaction construction software, ultimately resulting in 62 adopted improvements across two computational tasks required to prepare a QSB transaction, with benchmark tests showing an estimated computing cost reduction of about 79%. The relevant dashboard currently indicates that the estimated cost has further decreased to $66.The QSB proposal was released by StarkWare researcher Avihu Levy in April, introducing hash-based quantum attack protection for transactions without altering Bitcoin's consensus rules. Due to limited cost, complexity, and applicability, he described it at the time as an emergency measure while continuing to advocate for adjustments at the protocol level.

According to Cointelegraph, the European Banking Authority (EBA), the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) stated in a joint risk update that advancements in quantum computing could undermine the cryptographic systems that secure blockchain transactions, communications, and databases.Google Quantum AI researchers estimated in March that the number of physical quantum bits required to break the cryptographic techniques used by many cryptocurrencies is about 20 times less than previously estimated. There currently exists no computer capable of executing such an attack.Bitcoin developer Jameson Lopp and others proposed in February to gradually phase out the current signature scheme and to restrict the usage of untransferred funds five years after the proposal is activated; this proposal has not yet been adopted. The Ethereum Foundation plans to enable Ethereum's execution, consensus, and data layers to be resistant to quantum attacks by December 2029.