Ethereum Foundation Launches Post-Quantum Hub With 2029 Target for L1 Upgrades

Several teams at the Ethereum Foundation have launched “Post-Quantum Ethereum.” This is a dedicated site for Ethereum’s post-quantum security efforts that consolidates the roadmap, specs, research papers, and EIPs into a single public resource.

The website also includes a 14-question FAQ written by the PQ team, and a 6-part interview series. 

A Three-Phase Transition Before Q-Day

The initiative represents the maturation of over eight years of work, tracing back to early STARK-based signature aggregation research that began in 2018. 

Four teams within the Foundation collaborated on the effort. Progress has already moved well beyond theory. More than 10 client teams are actively building and shipping devnets each week through the PQ Interop process. 

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The team stressed that a cryptographically relevant quantum computer is not imminent. However, the sheer complexity of upgrading a decentralized global network demands years of planning, development, and verification, making it essential to begin work well before any real risk materializes.

“Ethereum’s approach is grounded in cryptographic agility — the ability to upgrade core primitives without destabilizing the network — and in treating this transition as an opportunity to strengthen the protocol’s security, simplicity, and decentralization,” the team added.

Based on the team’s current assessment, L1 protocol upgrades could wrap up by 2029. Full execution-layer migration would take additional years.

The transition follows three phases: readiness and infrastructure, gradual adoption, and protocol-level consolidation. Besides Ethereum, other networks are also taking steps to address a potential quantum threat.

The Solana Foundation has deployed post-quantum digital signatures on a Solana testnet. In January, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong also announced the formation of an independent advisory board focused on quantum computing and blockchain security.

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