Crypto has spent years obsessing over speed, fees, and scalability. Today, he may face a more existential question: What happens when his basic security breaks down?
This question moves from theory to urgency. Quantum computers, machines that use the principles of quantum physics to process information in fundamentally different ways than today’s computers, could eventually solve the kinds of mathematical problems that underlie modern encryption.
Discussions around post-quantum cryptography have intensified in the industry in recent weeks, particularly after new research from Google and academic collaborators suggested that such systems could one day break widely used encryption, potentially cracking systems like Bitcoin’s in minutes rather than years.
As Bitcoin developers scramble to find a solution and Ethereum prepares for the event, Solana is trying to anticipate this scenario.
Cryptography company Project Eleven has partnered with the Solana Foundation to experiment with post-quantum security, a technology designed to resist quantum attacks that could render current cryptography obsolete. The first work already highlights a difficult reality: making Solana quantum safe can be done at the expense of the performance that defines it.
In practice, this effort has involved moving beyond theory and into live testing. Project Eleven worked with the Solana ecosystem to model how the network would behave if its current cryptography were replaced, including deploying a test environment using quantum-resistant signatures – the digital keys that authorize transactions. The goal is not only to prove that the technology works, but also to understand what breaks when it is scaled.
The first results show a clear trade-off.
The new quantum-secure “signatures” that approve transactions are much larger and heavier than those used today, about 20 to 40 times larger, Alex Pruden, CEO of Project Eleven, who founded the project, after years in crypto and venture capital, brings a mix of military and industrial experience to the problem, told CoinDesk. This means the network can handle far fewer transactions at a time. In testing, a version of Solana using this new cryptography ran about 90% slower than it does today, Pruden said.
This compromise goes directly to the heart of Solana’s design. Blockchain has built its reputation on high throughput and low latency, positioning itself as one of the fastest networks in crypto. But post-quantum cryptography – while more secure against future threats – comes with heavier data and compute requirements, making it harder to maintain these speeds.
“Choose any wallet”
Solana may also face a more immediate structural challenge than its peers.
Unlike Bitcoin and Ethereum, where wallet addresses are typically derived from hashed public keys, Solana directly exposes public keys. This difference is important in a quantum scenario. “In Solana, 100% of the network is vulnerable,” Pruden said.
“A quantum computer could choose any wallet and immediately start trying to recover the private key.”
Pruden, a former Army Green Beret, first became interested in Bitcoin while deployed to the Middle East, later worked at Coinbase and joined Andreessen Horowitz’s venture capital team on his first fund. He then became an early leader in the privacy-focused Aleo blockchain before launching Project Eleven, a company focused on preparing digital assets for what he calls “Q-Day,” the moment when quantum computers can break current cryptography.
Meanwhile, some developers in the Solana ecosystem are considering simpler, more immediate fixes. One example is something called “Winternitz Vaults,” which uses a different type of cryptography considered more secure against quantum attacks. Instead of changing the entire network, these tools focus on protecting individual wallets, giving users a way to secure their funds now while larger system-wide upgrades are still being worked on.
Despite these obstacles, Solana has progressed faster than most in the industry in at least one way: experimentation. “There’s something tangible,” Pruden said. “We actually have a testnet with post-quantum signatures.” He added that the Solana Foundation “deserves to be commended for at least its commitment and willingness to do the work.”
In the crypto space, this level of engagement remains rare. Although some ecosystems, notably Ethereum, have begun to discuss long-term migration pathways, concrete implementation has been limited.
The broader challenge is not just technical, but social: upgrading cryptography in decentralized systems requires coordination between developers, validators, applications, and users, all of whom must move in order.
For Pruden, the risk is that the industry waits too long to begin this process. “It’s tomorrow’s problem – until it’s today’s problem,” he said. “And then it takes four years to repair.”
Read more: Here’s how Bitcoin, Ethereum and other networks are preparing for the looming quantum threat
