Ethereum Foundation backs advanced cryptography startup ZKNox, eyeing post-quantum future

The Ethereum Foundation has backed ZKNox, a research organization recently launched by three expert cryptologists, according to a series of posts on X Monday. The startup aims to develop open source code that improves Ethereum security and efficiency, with a special focus on post-quantum cryptography. 

Quantum computing threatens all cryptocurrency networks that rely on current cryptographic standards, though experts disagree on the timescale of viable attacks. 

Some post-quantum methods, such as Falcon signature schemes, provide resistance against quantum computing-enabled attacks, but certain inefficient functions currently make the signatures expensive on Ethereum. ZKNox recently released a more efficient version of one of these functions, the Number Theoretic Transform (NTT), making the Falcon signatures more efficient. 

"Full FALCON signature verification gas costs have dropped dramatically—from 24M gas down to just 2M," the Ethereum Foundation wrote in an X thread announcing their support of ZKNox. "This significant reduction means that PQ transactions are 12x cheaper on Ethereum!"

ZKNox's 2025 roadmap includes further development of post-quantum cryptographic solutions, alongside goals like providing an easy integration for Account Abstraction with hardware wallets, evaluating EIPs that may improve efficiency, and enhancing the user security of hardware wallets. 

ZKNox was founded by Bacca Nicolas, co-founder and ex-CTO of Ledger, Dubois Renaud, a former Ledger colleague and Masson Simon, an experienced cryptologist. 

"With deep expertise in securing critical systems, our mission is to advance secure hardware, cryptographic protocols, and blockchain-integrated security solutions—with a strong alignment to Ethereum, defensive and decentralized technologies," ZKNox's site states.