Ethereum Foundation Elevates Post-Quantum Security to Top Strategic Priority

Insider Brief

• The Ethereum Foundation has made post-quantum security a top strategic priority, launching a dedicated team and accelerating plans to transition the network to cryptography designed to withstand future quantum computers.
• The strategy includes new governance processes, live post-quantum development networks, and $2 million in targeted research prizes to strengthen hash-based cryptography and core protocol components.
• The initiative unfolds amid rising industry focus on quantum risk, including the creation of a quantum advisory board at Coinbase, with Ethereum participating in broader efforts to guide the crypto ecosystem’s long-term security.
• Photo by satheeshsankaran on Pixabay

A senior researcher at the Ethereum Foundation says the organization has formally elevated post-quantum security to a top strategic priority, marking what he described as a turning point in how the blockchain network is preparing for future cryptographic threats.

In an X post outlining the efforts, Justin Drake said the foundation has created a dedicated post-quantum, or PQ, research and engineering team and is accelerating work that has largely unfolded behind the scenes for several years. The move is in step with growing concern that advances in quantum computing could one day undermine widely used cryptographic methods that secure blockchains, financial systems and digital communications.

“After years of quiet R&D, EF management has officially declared PQ security a top strategic priority,” Drake writes in the post. “Our journey began in 2019, with the “Eth3.0 Quantum Security” presentation at StarkWare Sessions. Since 2024, PQ has been central to the @leanEthereum vision. The pace of PQ engineering breakthroughs since then has been nothing short of phenomenal.”

Post-quantum cryptography refers to encryption and signature techniques designed to remain secure even if large-scale quantum computers become practical.

While such machines do not yet exist, researchers and governments increasingly view the transition as a long-term infrastructure challenge rather than a distant theoretical risk.

A Coordinated Push on Quantum

Drake said the new PQ team will be led by Thomas Coratger and includes contributors behind leanVM, a cryptographic execution environment that the foundation views as central to its quantum-resistant design. According to the post, Ethereum’s internal work on quantum security began as early as 2019 and became more tightly integrated into its broader technical roadmap in 2024. Foundation leadership has now formally designated PQ security as a core priority.

The effort spans both governance and engineering. Drake said a new biweekly breakout call focused on post-quantum transactions will begin next month as part of Ethereum’s All Core Developers process. Those discussions will focus on user-facing security changes, including specialized cryptographic functions built directly into the protocol, new account designs, and longer-term approaches to aggregating transaction signatures using leanVM.

On the research side, the foundation is backing its strategy with targeted funding. Drake announced a $1 million Poseidon Prize aimed at strengthening the Poseidon hash function, a cryptographic building block used in zero-knowledge systems. The foundation is also continuing a separate $1 million initiative focused on post-quantum cryptographic proximity problems, signaling a preference for hash-based techniques that are generally considered more resistant to quantum attacks.

Engineering work is already underway on live development networks. Drake said multiple independent teams are running post-quantum consensus test networks, including both newer client developers and established Ethereum infrastructure groups. Weekly coordination calls are intended to ensure interoperability across implementations, a key requirement for changes to Ethereum’s core protocol.

Roadmap, Research and Industry Context

Beyond code, the foundation is expanding its outreach. Drake said Ethereum will host another multi-day post-quantum workshop later this year, following an earlier event in Cambridge, and will convene additional sessions around major industry conferences. Educational efforts are also planned, including a multi-part video series explaining Ethereum’s post-quantum strategy and new materials aimed at enterprises and governments.

The post also reviewed recent progress in cryptographic research aided by artificial intelligence. Drake said a specialized mathematics-focused AI system was used to rapidly complete a complex formal proof related to hash-based zero-knowledge proofs, suggesting that AI tools could accelerate future cryptographic development.

A detailed post-quantum roadmap is expected to be published soon on a dedicated Ethereum Foundation website. Drake said the goal is a full transition over the coming years without network downtime or loss of user funds.

The announcement comes amid broader industry attention to quantum risks. Last week, Coinbase said it had formed an independent advisory board to assess how future quantum computers could affect blockchain security and to provide guidance to the crypto ecosystem. Drake said Ethereum now has representation on that advisory effort, underscoring a growing alignment between major blockchain players as they prepare for a post-quantum future.