Команда Ethereum Foundation о постквантовой безопасности: пути к устойчивости Translation: Ethereum Foundation Team on Post-Quantum Security: Paths to Resilience

The Ethereum Foundation has declared post-quantum security (PQ) a key strategic priority and has assembled a dedicated team of developers.

The team will be led by cryptographic engineer Thomas Koratger from EF, with support from a specialist known as Emile from the leanVM team, as reported by researcher Justin Drake.

«Our journey began in 2019 with the Eth3.0 Quantum Security presentation at StarkWare Sessions. Starting in 2024, PQ will take center stage in the leanEthereum concept. The pace of engineering breakthroughs in the PQ field has been nothing short of phenomenal. But now it’s 2026, and timelines are accelerating,» he stated.

Drake referred to leanVM as the «cornerstone» of Ethereum’s post-quantum cryptography strategy. The virtual machine is optimized for the use of zero-knowledge proofs and quantum-resistant signatures based on hashing.

In November 2025, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin warned that the elliptic cryptography underpinning the cryptocurrency could become vulnerable by 2028.

According to Drake, the blockchain project aims to transition to quantum-resistant technologies swiftly, without downtime or loss of funds. He outlined several steps planned or already being implemented in this direction:

The cryptocurrency community acknowledges the quantum risk for the blockchain. However, estimates regarding timelines vary significantly.

Notable cryptopunk and CEO of Blockstream Adam Back believes that the risk of hacking will not become real for another 20-40 years. In contrast, several experts, including analyst Willy Woo and the Quantum Doomsday Clock team, are less optimistic. They suggest a timeframe of 2028-2030.

Castle Island Ventures partner Nick Carter criticized Bitcoin developers for ignoring the threat of quantum computing. He argues that this risk is already negatively impacting the price dynamics of digital gold. This assertion was disputed by James Check, founder and lead analyst at checkonchain.

Back noted that developers are conducting relevant research. However, Check believes that the main challenge will not be creating but rather implementing protective mechanisms, as the Bitcoin community moves extremely slowly towards consensus on protocol changes.

Commercial director of Naoris Protocol Youssef El Madderassi, in a column for Cointelegraph, reminded that even a «minor» update like Taproot required extensive discussions and negotiations.

Another major issue he highlighted is the transition to quantum-resistant technologies, which will necessitate a fundamental overhaul of signing mechanisms in the protocol. Researchers from Kent University estimate that such a significant upgrade could lead to 75-300 days of downtime. For a global financial asset with a market capitalization exceeding $1 trillion, this is deemed unacceptable, Madderassi emphasized.

It’s worth noting that the risk of blockchain performance declining by orders of magnitude when migrating to quantum-secure solutions was pointed out in December by Charles Hoskinson, founder of Cardano.