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Ethereum researcher proposes accelerated 2028 post-quantum target
Justin Drake, a researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, has proposed an accelerated timeline to complete Ethereum’s transition to post-quantum and post-AI security by December 2028. Speaking at Devcon 8 in Mumbai, Drake noted that this target is one year earlier than the official December 2029 deadline established in the foundation’s September roadmap.
The proposed plan involves delivering three major network upgrades within approximately 24 months. This transition aims to protect the network against future threats from advancing quantum computing and artificial intelligence, which could potentially compromise current elliptic-curve cryptography used for securing wallets and validating transactions.
While the 2028 goal is presented as an aspiration rather than a formal change to the official roadmap, the foundation is scheduled to reassess quantum progress with external experts in January 2027. Technical efforts include making leanVM technology production-ready by 2027 and implementing hash-based signature schemes to ensure long-term resilience across Ethereum’s execution, consensus, and data layers.
Entities
Devcon 8 · Eli Ben-Sasson · Ethereum · Ethereum Foundation · Justin Drake · Mumbai
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how many sources carry each claim.
- [● 2 SOURCES] Justin Drake aims to complete Ethereum's post-quantum and post-AI transition by December 2028. cryptobriefing.com · cointelegraph.com
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Ethereum uses ECDSA and BLS signature schemes. cryptobriefing.com
- [○ 1 SOURCE] The transition would require three network upgrades within 24 months. cointelegraph.com
- [○ 1 SOURCE] LeanSPHINCS and leanXMSS are candidate hash-based signature schemes. cryptobriefing.com
- [● 2 SOURCES] Justin Drake presented these targets at Devcon 8 in Mumbai. cryptobriefing.com · cointelegraph.com
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Approximately 72% of the ETH supply is in accounts with exposed public keys. cryptobriefing.com
- [● 2 SOURCES] The Ethereum Foundation's September roadmap set a target of December 2029 for quantum resistance. cryptobriefing.com · cointelegraph.com
- [○ 1 SOURCE] StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson stated the 2029 target was too late. cointelegraph.com