Stellar announces the Quantum Preparedness Plan (QPP), a three-stage roadmap to migrate the network to post-quantum cryptography by 2027+. Stage 1 (2026) brings quantum-safe signature verification to Soroban contract accounts; Stage 2 (2027) adds quantum-safe signers as first-class accounts on the classic network; Stage 3 deprecates Ed25519 based on quantum computing advances. Stellar's separation of account identity from signing keys means existing addresses and balances migrate without creating new accounts.
Stellar Development Foundation announces the Quantum Preparedness Plan (QPP), a three-stage roadmap to migrate the network to post-quantum cryptography. The plan addresses the mathematical certainty that sufficiently powerful quantum computers will break the elliptic curve cryptography securing Stellar and virtually all blockchain and internet infrastructure. Stage 1 (2026) adds post-quantum signature verification to Soroban as native host functions, supporting ML-DSA signature standards. Enterprise wallets can shift to quantum-safe contract accounts immediately. Stage 2 (2027) introduces quantum-safe signer types as first-class signers on classic accounts, allowing every G... account to add quantum-safe keys without changing its address or migrating balances. Stage 3 deprecates Ed25519 entirely, timing determined by quantum computing progress and ecosystem readiness. Stellar's structural advantage is separating account identity (the G... address) from signing keys. Unlike Bitcoin and Ethereum, where addresses encode public keys, Stellar accounts can rotate signing keys without migration. This means the entire network can shift to quantum-safe cryptography without forcing users to move balances or update external systems. The plan also acknowledges open challenges, including post-quantum solutions for pairing-based zero-knowledge protocols, which the industry must work through collectively.
