Cryptocurrency Readiness
Who’s ready, who’s not. We track public code, roadmap statements, and verifiable deployments to assess quantum preparedness across major chains.
The Migration Gap
Quantum hardware is advancing exponentially. Cryptocurrency migration moves at the pace of governance—years of proposals, debates, and coordination. Of 49 cryptocurrencies we track, only 1 have strong quantum resistance. The rest face a race against time to upgrade before Q-Day arrives.
Current State of Readiness
The cryptocurrency ecosystem remains largely unprepared for the quantum threat. Despite NIST finalizing post-quantum standards in August 2024, adoption has been painfully slow:
36
Critical Vulnerability (RED)
12
Upgrade Recommended (YELLOW)
1
Quantum-Ready (GREEN)
| Milestone | Count | Status |
|---|---|---|
| PQC on Mainnet | 1 | QRL only (XMSS hash-based signatures) |
| PQC on Testnet | 3–5 | QRL Zond, Algorand State Proofs, experimental pilots |
| Active PQC Proposals | ~10 | Bitcoin BIP-360, Ethereum EIP-7932, others in draft |
| Research Phase Only | Most | Published papers, no concrete implementation timeline |
| No Public Activity | Many | No roadmap, no research, no acknowledgment of threat |
Major Project Assessments
Detailed readiness status for the largest cryptocurrencies by market cap, plus notable quantum-focused projects:
Bitcoin (BTC)
QRC Score: 41.8 | Risk Band: YELLOW | Crypto-Agility: 4.3
Current Status: Multiple proposals under discussion, no formal BIP adopted.
- BIP-360 (P2QRH): Pay-to-Quantum-Resistant-Hash addresses proposed by Hunter Beast. Introduces ML-DSA (Dilithium), SLH-DSA (SPHINCS+), and FALCON signatures. Soft-fork compatible.
- QRAMP: Mandatory migration plan drafted by Jameson Lopp (July 2025). Would move vulnerable UTXOs to quantum-safe addresses via hard fork.
- P2TRH: Pay-to-Taproot-Hash — replaces visible Taproot keys with double-hashed versions. Lower overhead but doesn’t protect against short-exposure attacks.
- Key Exposure: ~25% of Bitcoin supply (~6.65M addresses) has exposed public keys, including ~1M Satoshi-era coins.
Timeline: No concrete adoption date. Community debates ongoing. Migration estimated at 5–7+ years once consensus achieved.
Ethereum (ETH)
QRC Score: 16.2 | Risk Band: RED | Crypto-Agility: 5.7
Current Status: Multiple EIPs proposed, research funding active, no testnet deployment.
- EIP-7932: Secondary Signature Algorithms (April 2025) — allows protocol to recognize multiple signature algorithms. Still in draft.
- EIP-7693: Hybrid migration path maintaining ECDSA compatibility while enabling gradual PQC transition.
- EIP-4337 (Account Abstraction): Enables account-level signature scheme upgrades without network-wide hard fork.
- ZKnox: Ethereum Foundation-funded research group (March 2025) optimizing PQC for on-chain verification.
- Key Exposure: >65% of Ether has exposed public keys. All ~1M validators have exposed BLS keys.
Timeline: Vitalik Buterin places quantum resistance in “The Splurge” phase (2026–2027+). No concrete deployment date.
Solana (SOL)
QRC Score: 31.5 | Risk Band: YELLOW | Crypto-Agility: 4.0
Current Status: Optional quantum-resistant vault available, not network-wide protection.
- Winternitz Vault: Launched January 2025 by Dean Little (Zeus Network). Uses hash-based one-time signatures (WOTS) with new keys per transaction.
- BTQ/Bonsol Partnership: October 2025 — demonstrated first NIST-standardized PQC signature verification on Solana using off-chain proving.
- Limitation: Vault is opt-in only. Standard Solana wallets remain quantum-vulnerable. Users must actively choose to use vault.
- Co-founder Warning: Anatoly Yakovenko stated “50/50 chance” quantum computers break ECDSA within 5 years (All-In Summit 2025).
Timeline: Optional protection available now. Network-wide upgrade timeline unknown.
Cardano (ADA)
QRC Score: 28.1 | Risk Band: RED | Crypto-Agility: 5.0
Current Status: Research-driven approach with academic partnerships. No mainnet implementation.
- Research Program: Launched 2018 with Professor Peter Schwabe (Dilithium, SPHINCS+ co-author). Long-arc academic approach.
- Proof Chain: Charles Hoskinson outlined strategy (February 2025) — independent verification layer to prepare for quantum transition.
- Mithril Certificates: Using FIPS-compliant signatures to enhance quantum resistance within Ed25519 system.
- Approach: Waiting for industry-wide consensus before significant protocol modifications.
Timeline: Proof chain could arrive within “next few years.” Full PQC adoption longer. Research is priority.
Quantum Resistant Ledger (QRL)
QRC Score: 82.0 | Risk Band: GREEN | Crypto-Agility: 3.3
Current Status: Only major cryptocurrency with quantum-resistant cryptography deployed on mainnet since launch.
- XMSS Signatures: Hash-based, NIST-approved stateful signature scheme. Native to protocol since 2018.
- Project Zond: Next-generation EVM-compatible chain with Dilithium signatures. Testnet V1 launched Q1 2025.
- Zond Virtual Machine: Ethereum-compatible development with post-quantum security built in.
- No Migration Needed: Existing QRL users already protected. No upgrade required.
Timeline: Mainnet quantum-resistant since genesis. Zond mainnet expected 2025–2026.
Algorand (ALGO)
QRC Score: 27.6 | Risk Band: RED | Crypto-Agility: 5.0
Current Status: Most advanced Layer-1 with production-ready PQC components.
- State Proofs: Secured by NIST-endorsed FALCON (lattice-based) signatures. Production-ready.
- Experimental PQ Transactions: Available on mainnet for testing.
- Falcon Integration: Lattice-based signatures with good size/performance balance.
- Research Leadership: Founded by Silvio Micali (Turing Award winner, MIT cryptographer).
Timeline: State Proofs live. Full transaction PQC migration path being developed.
What We Evaluate
Our readiness assessments examine five key dimensions of quantum preparedness:
1. Signature Scheme Risk
Current reliance on ECDSA, EdDSA, or BLS signatures. Public key exposure patterns. Percentage of value behind quantum-vulnerable keys.
2. Migration Plans
Presence and credibility of PQC or hybrid proposals. BIPs, EIPs, or equivalent improvement proposals. Testnet implementations.
3. Governance & Upgrade Paths
Feasibility of on-chain changes. Hard fork vs soft fork requirements. Historical upgrade velocity. Multi-sig rotation capability.
4. Tooling & Ecosystem
Wallet support for PQC. Hardware security module (HSM) compatibility. Library availability. Developer documentation and SDKs.
5. Operational Posture
Incident response planning. Key hygiene practices. Address reuse policies. Backport strategy for security fixes.
Migration Timeline Reality
Even with consensus, migrating a major cryptocurrency to post-quantum cryptography is a multi-year endeavor:
| Phase | Duration | Activities |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Research & Proposal | 1–2 years | Algorithm selection, BIP/EIP drafting, security analysis |
| 2. Community Consensus | 6–18 months | Debates, revisions, governance votes, fork coordination |
| 3. Implementation | 6–12 months | Code development, testnet deployment, security audits |
| 4. Ecosystem Update | 12–24 months | Wallet updates, exchange support, HSM integration |
| 5. User Migration | Ongoing | Individual key rotation, dormant account handling |
The Bitcoin Example
Research suggests Bitcoin’s full migration would require at least 76 days of dedicated on-chain effort in an optimistic scenario—far longer in practice. With governance debates alone taking years (SegWit took ~22 months), projects not yet in Phase 1 face serious timeline risk if Q-Day arrives by 2030–2035.
Migration Playbooks
Step-by-step guides for different platform types, with real-world lessons and cost estimates:
Layer-1 Blockchain Playbook
Complete 5-phase migration guide with lessons from SegWit, The Merge, and Cardano. Includes cost estimates ($850K–$3.35M) and realistic 7-year timeline.
Smart-Contract Platform
Contract-level implications: signature verification precompiles, opcode changes, gas cost impacts, and DeFi protocol updates.
Exchange & Custody
Dual-signature workflows, HSM support for PQC algorithms, and staged client migration without service interruption.
Track the Migration Progress
See which projects are taking action and which are falling behind in the race to quantum security.
Last updated: December 4, 2025 | QRC Scoring Engine V5.1