Ethereum Quantum Defense Roadmap Targets 2028 Threat

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin proposed a quantum defense roadmap on Thursday, warning that quantum computers could break Ethereum's security model before the 2028 US presidential election.

Buterin's roadmap includes hash-based signatures, recursive STARKs, and a new transaction type called frame transactions. He said frame transactions would give Ethereum users accounts that can use any signature algorithm — a critical shift away from the current ECDSA standard that quantum computers could crack. Buterin acknowledged the engineering challenge: it's manageable, but there's a lot of engineering work to do.

Ethereum Foundation developer Felix Lange said quantum readiness is the team's most important priority. He added that the Foundation needs to get started with the off-ramp from ECDSA and build a comprehensive system that can handle whatever signature algorithms Ethereum wants to use. At least one quantum-related change could arrive by the end of 2024, with a bigger upgrade containing quantum improvements expected in the latter half of 2026 under the proposed Hegota upgrade.

Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake released a separate "strawman roadmap" for blockchain upgrades through the end of the decade. He wrote that an official roadmap reflecting all Ethereum stakeholders is effectively impossible, and his version represents one reasonably coherent path among millions of possible outcomes. Drake's post-quantum strategy targets a full transition in coming years with zero loss of funds and zero downtime.

Over 65% of Ether in circulation sits in quantum-exposed addresses, compared to Bitcoin's 25% exposure rate. Ethereum Foundation developers are debating which quantum improvements will make it into the Hegota upgrade in the latter half of 2026.