Ethereum targets 2028 for post-quantum transition, a year early

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Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake hopes to finish the network's post-quantum and post-AI overhaul by December 2028

Wed 4 Nov 2026 · 00:58 EST · 3 min read

In Ethereum

Ethereum may be trying to beat its own deadline. Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake says he hopes the network can finish its post-quantum and post-AI transition by December 2028.

That is one year ahead of the foundation’s earlier quantum-resistance target of December 2029.

What Drake actually said

Drake shared the target at Devcon 8, which took place in Mumbai on November 3, 2026. He presented it as an aspiration rather than a promise.

“Our hope is that by December 2028 we’ll be able to wrap up the full post-quantum and post-AI transition,” Drake said.

The word “hope” matters here. The 2028 date is a goal, not a hard deadline, and it does not replace the roadmap the foundation published in September 2025.

That roadmap set December 2029 as the target for quantum resistance.

The work itself is substantial. Developers would need to ship three more network upgrades within 24 months, following a milestone expected in early 2027.

Why quantum computers worry Ethereum

Ethereum relies on two elliptic-curve signature schemes that face this risk. ECDSA secures ordinary user accounts. BLS signatures are used by validators in the network’s proof-of-stake consensus.

The scale of the problem is not small. Approximately 72% of the ETH supply sits in accounts whose public keys are already exposed, and that share may be vulnerable to a future quantum attack.

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The AI wrinkle

The “post-AI” half of Drake’s phrase is the newer part of the conversation. In October 2026, Drake warned that advances in artificial intelligence could compromise current signature schemes before quantum hardware is ready to do so.

How Ethereum plans to get there

The research focuses on hash-based signature schemes. Two named candidates are leanSPHINCS and leanXMSS.

Hash-based signatures draw their security from hash functions instead of elliptic curves, which are generally viewed as far more resistant to quantum attacks.

The plan also covers new data availability designs built to hold up against quantum threats.

The foundation has organized around the effort as well. A dedicated Post-Quantum Security team was formed in January 2026 to lead the upgrade work.

Background: a long-running project

The September 2025 roadmap gave the effort its first formal deadline. The January 2026 team gave it staff. Drake’s Devcon 8 remarks now add a more aggressive internal target, even if the official roadmap remains in place.

What this means for ETH holders and the wider market

For holders, the most practical question is what happens to their own accounts. With roughly 72% of supply sitting at addresses with exposed public keys, any migration will likely require users, exchanges and custodians to move funds to new quantum-resistant setups at some point.

Execution risk is the next thing to watch. Three hard forks in about two years leave little room for delays. If the early 2027 milestone slips, the 2028 hope could slide back toward the 2029 roadmap date, or later.

The next signals to track are the early 2027 milestone and any formal updates to the foundation’s roadmap. Until those arrive, December 2028 remains what Drake called it: a hope, backed by a team, a plan and three forks that still have to get built.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Vivian Nguyen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.