Ethereum Foundation forms post-quantum security team, adds $1 million research prize

The Ethereum Foundation has formed a dedicated Post-Quantum (PQ) team to accelerate the network's preparations for quantum computing threats, with senior researcher Justin Drake calling it a "top strategic priority" in an X post on Friday.

The new team will be led by Thomas Coratger, a cryptographic engineer at the foundation, with support from Emile, a cryptographer closely associated with the foundation's leanVM project. Drake described leanVM, a minimalist zero-knowledge proof virtual machine optimized for quantum-resistant hash-based signatures, as the "cornerstone" of Ethereum's post-quantum strategy.

"After years of quiet R&D, EF management has officially declared PQ security a top strategic priority," Drake wrote. "It's now 2026, timelines are accelerating. Time to go full PQ."

The foundation is putting significant funding behind the effort, announcing a $1 million Poseidon Prize to strengthen a hash function central to Ethereum's zero-knowledge proof systems, adding to the $1 million Proximity Prize targeting broader post-quantum cryptographic research announced last year.

On the engineering side, multi-client post-quantum consensus development networks are already running, with Lighthouse and Grandine having implemented PQ devnets and Prysm expected to follow. Biweekly developer sessions on post-quantum transactions will begin next month, led by researcher Antonio Sanso. Drake also outlined community initiatives including a three-day workshop in October and a session ahead of EthCC in March.

The announcement comes amid intensifying industry focus on quantum preparedness. On Wednesday, Coinbase formed an independent advisory board to evaluate quantum risks to blockchain networks, with Drake among its members alongside Stanford cryptographer Dan Boneh and University of Texas professor Scott Aaronson.

The move also follows Buterin's January 12 outline of the "walkaway test", a framework for assessing whether Ethereum could remain secure if core developers stepped away. Buterin listed quantum resistance as non-negotiable and has previously estimated a 20% probability that quantum computers capable of breaking current cryptography could emerge before 2030.

Last week, Jefferies strategist Christopher Wood removed a 10% bitcoin allocation from his model portfolio, citing quantum computing as an "existential" risk. Unlike Bitcoin, which would likely require a contentious hard fork consensus for quantum-resistant upgrades, Ethereum's account abstraction roadmap provides a clearer migration pathway.