Headline: Ethereum researcher says wallets can add post‑quantum account protection today — for about $0.07 A lead researcher on the Ethereum Foundation’s privacy project Kohaku says accounts on Ethereum can begin preparing for a post‑quantum future now — without waiting for a hard fork. In a June 2026 post on X, Nico wrote: “Ethereum can already start preparing accounts for a post quantum world, without waiting for a hard fork.” He added that, at today’s gas prices, the cost to add protection would be roughly $0.07 per account. What Nico proposes is account‑level protection, not a chainwide protocol change. That means wallets or smart contract account implementations could adopt quantum‑resistant signature schemes through existing smart‑contract logic while core Ethereum developers continue work on longer‑term protocol upgrades. The technical idea: SPHINCS‑, an EVM‑optimized family of stateless post‑quantum signatures Nico’s Ethereum Research post outlines SPHINCS‑, a family of EVM‑optimized, stateless, hash‑based signature schemes derived from SPHINCS+ and newer compact hash‑based constructions. The goal is to keep on‑chain verification costs practical without needing a new precompile or changes to Ethereum’s execution rules. Key technical numbers from the post: - A Solidity verifier is already able to validate a post‑quantum‑style signature on Ethereum at realistic cost. - One optimized variant, called C13, verifies in about 127,000 gas and uses a 3,704‑byte signature. - The work includes a Lean 4 formal proof checked with Verity. Why this matters Ethereum (and Bitcoin) currently rely on ECDSA‑style signatures, which cryptographers warn could become breakable by sufficiently powerful future quantum computers. Hash‑based signatures like SPHINCS‑ are designed to resist those quantum attacks. By enabling post‑quantum verification in smart contracts today, high‑value accounts could adopt defenses before any network‑level upgrade is completed. How this fits into the broader roadmap The proposal aligns with ongoing Ethereum roadmap themes: Vitalik Buterin and others have discussed account abstraction — which lets wallets define how transactions are approved and paid — and account abstraction is already part of short‑term privacy work (FOCIL and keyed nonces). The Ethereum Foundation has also signaled a renewed focus on long‑term survival, security, privacy, openness and censorship resistance, with post‑quantum security and formal verification listed as future goals. Limits and next steps Nico cautions the design has limits: it uses non‑standard settings, involves bounded signature counts, and there are differences between Keccak‑based implementations and NIST‑aligned variants. The design has undergone an initial review with Fable and more audits are planned — the review is not a final sign‑off. Next work items include additional reviews, safer wallet UX flows, clearer cost models, and better hardware support. A practical path forward Because many funds still sit in legacy addresses, a wallet‑based route could let custodians and users test post‑quantum protection on high‑value accounts now, while broader protocol changes are evaluated and vetted. Nico’s proposal doesn’t imply an imminent quantum attack, nor does it replace later network‑level work — but it does show that account‑level defenses can move from research into practical trials today at a low cost per account. Read more about the research and follow upcoming audits as the project moves toward wider testing. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news