Technology & Science
Ethereum Foundation Launches $2 Million Post-Quantum Security Team and Roadmap
On 24 Jan 2026 the Ethereum Foundation moved from research to execution, unveiling a dedicated Post-Quantum (PQ) team—led by Thomas Coratger and funded with $2 million—to retrofit Ethereum’s core protocol for quantum-resistant cryptography.
Focusing Facts
- Two $1 million prize programs were announced: the new Poseidon Prize to harden the Poseidon hash function and the continuing Proximity Prize for broader hash-based PQ research.
- Bi-weekly All-Core-Devs PQ breakout calls, starting Feb 2026 under researcher Antonio Sanso, will coordinate implementation of post-quantum signatures, account abstraction, and consensus upgrades across client teams.
- A public PQ roadmap and no-downtime migration plan will debut on pq.ethereum.org, with the first in-person PQ workshop slated for 29 Mar 2026 in Cannes.
Context
Cryptography has survived paradigm shocks before: the 56-bit DES standard, considered unbreakable in 1977, fell to a distributed cracking effort by 1998; similarly, RSA-1024 was acceptable until the 2010s pushed adoption of 2048-bit keys. Ethereum’s pivot echoes those earlier moments when looming compute advances forced pre-emptive algorithm shifts. The long arc here is the relentless march of computation—classical in the 20th century, quantum in the 21st—eroding yesterday’s security margins. By openly funding a transition now, Ethereum is betting that nimble, open-source financial rails can out-adapt both Wall Street’s layered legacy stacks and slower-moving public standards bodies (NIST’s final PQ suite is still incomplete). A century from now, whether or not Shor-capable machines arrived in the 2030s, this episode will be remembered less for the dollars spent than for testing the capacity of decentralized networks to coordinate systemic cryptographic upgrades without halting a live $400 billion economy—something previous monetary systems, from the gold standard to SWIFT, never had to attempt under real-time global scrutiny.
Perspectives
Pro-Ethereum crypto media outlets
e.g., Cryptopolitan, ForkLog, Decrypt — Portray the Ethereum Foundation’s new post-quantum team as an urgent, industry-leading move that will let Ethereum stay ahead of an imminent quantum-computing threat. Stories rely heavily on Ethereum insiders’ quotes and prize announcements, hyping ‘accelerating timelines’ while glossing over unresolved technical hurdles – a stance that keeps readers bullish on ETH and engaged with affiliate offers.
Cautious academic/VC researchers
e.g., a16z crypto’s Justin Thaler — Warn that cryptographically relevant quantum computers are still far off and that hurried migrations to post-quantum cryptography could create more immediate vulnerabilities than they solve. By advocating patience, they protect existing investments and research agendas; their estimates lean on public data and may underplay classified or corporate advances that could shorten timelines.
Bitcoin-ossification advocates
e.g., Michael Saylor quoted in BeInCrypto — Argue that internal protocol changes pose a bigger danger to Bitcoin than external quantum threats, stressing that the network’s strength lies in resisting ambitious upgrades. This stance preserves Bitcoin’s ‘digital gold’ narrative and holders’ interests, dismissing quantum concerns that might force controversial code changes or highlight Ethereum’s comparative agility.