Stellar Unveils Three-Stage Plan to Quantum-Safe Cryptography
The Stellar Development Foundation has released a detailed three-stage roadmap to transition its blockchain to quantum-safe cryptography, addressing the looming threat of quantum computers that could break current elliptic curve cryptography. The plan leverages Stellar's structural advantage: account identities are separate from signing keys, allowing users to upgrade without changing addresses. Stage one in 2026 will add post-quantum signature verification to Stellar's smart contract layer, enabling enterprise wallets to migrate. Stage two in 2027 will enable all accounts to add quantum-safe signers via a protocol upgrade. Stage three, deprecating current cryptography, depends on quantum progress and community readiness. A key challenge is dormant accounts with unreachable holders, which the Foundation says requires community discussion. The plan comes as experts predict quantum computers could break crypto by 2029-2030, with Bitcoin and Ethereum also exploring solutions. XLM token is down 12% in the past week amid broader market decline.
Key facts
- Stellar plans three-stage migration to quantum-safe cryptography starting 2026
- Accounts can upgrade without changing addresses due to key separation
- Dormant accounts with unreachable holders pose unresolved challenge
- Quantum threat timeline tightening: estimates range 2029-2030
- XLM token down 12% last week amid broader crypto market rout