Summary:

• Solana has partnered with post-quantum security firm Project Eleven to test quantum-resistant transactions on a Solana testnet.
• The pilot uses post-quantum digital signatures designed to withstand future quantum computing threats.
• The initiative follows a full quantum threat assessment conducted on the Solana network.
• While quantum computers capable of breaking today's cryptography do not yet exist, forecasts suggest a non-trivial risk within the next decade.

The Solana ecosystem is taking an early step into a future most blockchains still treat as a big threat. This week, the Solana Foundation announced a partnership with Project Eleven, a post-quantum cryptography company, to test quantum-resistant transaction signatures on a Solana testnet. The pilot, part of what both teams describe as a broader readiness effort, aims to explore whether post-quantum security can work at Solana's scale without breaking the network's performance assumptions. While quantum computers capable of threatening modern blockchains do not yet exist, the initiative reflects a growing belief that cryptographic transitions take years, not months.

Project Eleven focuses on building infrastructure for a post-quantum world. Its work sits at the intersection of cryptography, blockchain systems, and financial infrastructure, with the goal of translating academic post-quantum research into systems that can actually run in production environments.

According to the companies, Project Eleven conducted a full quantum computing threat assessment of Solana before prototyping a Solana testnet that uses post-quantum digital signatures. This allowed both sides to evaluate not just theoretical security, but also performance trade-offs under real network conditions.

It is interesting that for Solana, the partnership is less about immediate deployment and more about understanding what a future migration could realistically look like.

Solana's Long View on Network Security

The Solana Foundation framed the pilot as a responsibility to current ones +future users.

Well for now that framing matters. Blockchains are designed to persist indefinitely, which means cryptographic decisions made today can have consequences far down the line. Once assets are locked into a chain, upgrading the underlying security model becomes a complex coordination problem involving wallets, validators, developers, and users. Solana has publicly acknowledged that quantum computers are not an immediate threat. But it is choosing to prepare anyway.

In a post on X, the Solana Foundation explained the motivation behind the pilot in plain terms.

Btw, This is not a network-wide upgrade, and no changes are being pushed to mainnet. Instead, the testnet deployment allows engineers to measure how post-quantum signatures behave under load, how they affect transaction throughput, and how they interact with existing tooling. Those answers will shape whether a broader rollout is feasible years down the line.

Why Quantum Risk Is Taken Seriously

Quantum computing is often discussed in extremes. Either it is dismissed as science fiction, or it is treated as an imminent apocalypse for cryptography. Current quantum computers cannot break Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Solana today. But once cryptographically relevant quantum computers exist, many widely used systems become structurally unsafe.

Forecasting models provide a rough sense of timing. On Metaculus, a forecasting platform often referenced in technical circles, the median estimate for when quantum computers could break modern public-key cryptography is around 2040. There is also an estimated 20% chance this could happen before the end of 2030 predicted by Vitalik Buterin.

That probability may sound low but for global financial infrastructure, it is very alarming. 

The Performance Challenge

One of the biggest open questions around post-quantum cryptography is cost. Post-quantum signature schemes tend to be more computationally expensive than the elliptic curve systems most blockchains use today. Solana currently relies on Ed25519, which is fast and well-understood.

In 2024, Cloudflare compared one of the NIST-approved post-quantum standards , FIPS 204, against Ed25519 and RSA-2048. The results highlighted the trade-offs. FIPS 204 was nearly five times more expensive to sign than Ed25519, but about twice as fast to verify. RSA-2048, an older system, was slower to sign than both and only slightly faster to verify than FIPS 204. For a high-throughput network like Solana, those differences matter. Even small increases in signing cost can ripple through validator performance and transaction latency. Testing these schemes on a Solana testnet allows the foundation to move beyond theory and into measurable reality.

NIST and the Push Toward Standards

The broader cryptographic view is also shifting. In August 2024, the US National Institute of Standards and Technology introduced three post-quantum encryption standards: FIPS 203, 204, and 205. These standards provide a baseline for governments, enterprises, and infrastructure providers preparing for a post-quantum transition. While blockchains are not required to adopt NIST standards, many teams view them as a signal of where the industry is heading. Solana's pilot aligns with that direction without committing the network prematurely.

For most users, quantum security feels abstract,  transactions settle or feels nothing appears broken. But blockchains are long-lived systems. Assets stored today may need to remain secure for decades. If a quantum breakthrough arrives suddenly, attackers could potentially exploit old signatures or drain vulnerable addresses before networks have time to react. By experimenting now, Solana is effectively buying time. It is learning what a migration might look like long before one is required.

Looking Ahead

Project Eleven's pilot does not mark the end of Solana's quantum planning. If anything, it marks the beginning of a long research and coordination process. Post-quantum cryptography is still evolving. Hardware support, wallet compatibility, and developer tooling all need time to mature. But by testing early, Solana positions itself to adapt rather than scramble. For now, it seems the threat remains theoretical. But the preparation is real.

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