Key Highlights
- Project Eleven completed a quantum threat assessment and deployed post-quantum signatures on a Solana testnet.
- The initiative aims to protect wallets, validators, and core cryptography from future quantum attacks.
- The move contrasts with Bitcoin’s slower progress, as industry figures warn its cryptography could face quantum risks.
Project Eleven has partnered with the Solana Foundation to prepare the Solana network for potential threats posed by quantum computing. The initiative, announced today, focuses on addressing attacks that could compromise wallets, validators, and digital signatures.
As part of the collaboration, Project Eleven conducted a full quantum risk assessment and deployed a working Solana testnet using post-quantum digital signatures, marking an early step toward quantum-resistant blockchain infrastructure.
Post-quantum testing on Solana
Project Eleven said its work focused on evaluating how future quantum advances could impact Solana’s core systems, from user wallets to validator security and long-term cryptographic assumptions. The firm also demonstrated that post-quantum signatures can function end-to-end on Solana without breaking scalability or performance.
Matt Sorg, vice president of technology at the Solana Foundation, said the effort reflects Solana’s approach to addressing long-term risks early, as the network prepares to roll out a second client and a new consensus mechanism. Project Eleven CEO Alex Pruden added that Solana chose to act before quantum computing becomes an immediate threat, showing that quantum-resistant security is already viable with today’s tools.
Solana vs. Bitcoin on quantum security
Solana’s move stands in contrast to Bitcoin, where quantum risk has become a growing topic of concern rather than active implementation. Bitcoin relies on elliptic-curve cryptography (ECC), which several researchers warn could be broken by sufficiently powerful quantum computers using algorithms such as Shor’s.
VanEck CEO Jan van Eck has publicly questioned whether Bitcoin’s encryption would survive a quantum breakthrough, saying the firm would reconsider its support if the network’s core security assumptions fail. Analysts like Willy Woo have also urged Bitcoin users to move funds to SegWit wallets as a temporary safeguard, warning that exposed public keys could become a liability in a quantum era.
Solana moves first as debate rises
The collaboration reflects a broader shift across the industry toward quantum-safe infrastructure, as both public and private research accelerate.
For Solana, starting early could mean fewer headaches later. By testing now, the network gives itself room to upgrade gradually instead of rushing fixes once quantum threats feel real. At the same time, the move puts quiet pressure on other blockchains, Bitcoin in particular, to explain when and how they plan to deal with the same risk.
Quantum security is no longer just a research topic. As planning turns practical, the divide between networks that are already experimenting and those still arguing about timelines is likely to shape which blockchains are trusted, secure, and widely used in the years ahead.
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