EF researcher explains Ethereum's plan to tackle the quantum threat

Speakers

Tomas Corzir — Post-Quantum Ethereum Team Lead at Ethereum Foundation

Kelvin Sparks — Host at The Cryptobe

Tim Copeland — Head of Growth at The Block

Summary

The Ethereum Foundation (EF) is actively developing "Lean Consensus," a major overhaul targeting a 2030 mainnet launch to make Ethereum quantum-resistant.
The core threat is that reliable quantum computers could derive private keys from public keys using Shor's algorithm, breaking current Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC).
The solution involves replacing BLS signatures with hash-based schemes (XMSS) and utilizing "Lean VM" (a minimal ZKVM) to aggregate signatures without bloating the chain.
A contrarian insight is that the "Quantum Winter" (a stall in quantum progress) is viewed by the EF not as a reason to stop, but as a lucky break to finish the upgrade before the threat matures.
AI is acting as a double-edged sword: it helps developers write/test post-quantum code faster, but also accelerates the development of quantum computers by optimizing error-correcting codes.

Trade Ideas

Ticker	Direction	Speaker	Thesis	Time
ETH	LONG	Tomas Corzir Post-Quantum Ethereum Team Lead at Ethereum Foundation	The EF has a dedicated team, a roadmap to 2030, and is already running "Devnet 3" and "Devnet 4" with post-quantum signatures (XMSS) replacing BLS. They are treating this as an "opportunity for functional change" rather than just a crisis. The market prices in a non-zero probability of a "Quantum Apocalypse" where crypto assets become worthless. By proactively proving they can upgrade the consensus layer years before the threat arrives, Ethereum removes this existential tail risk. A "quantum-safe" store of value commands a significant premium over chains that are reactive or lack the coordination to upgrade. Long ETH as a long-term hold; the governance risk is lower than Bitcoin due to a social layer more willing to upgrade cryptography. Implementation failure or a quantum breakthrough occurring before the 2030 deployment timeline.	1:25
IBM /GOOGL	LONG	Tomas Corzir Post-Quantum Ethereum Team Lead at Ethereum Foundation	Tomas identifies Google and IBM as the "strategic players" pouring massive capital into quantum hardware, noting that AI is now helping them design better quantum error-correcting codes to "compress time." If the threat is credible enough for Ethereum to re-architect its entire consensus layer, the progress in quantum hardware must be substantial. While this is a threat to crypto encryption, it is a massive value driver for the companies building the "spear." Long the hardware developers who are forcing the rest of the digital world to upgrade their security. "Quantum Winter" where physical limitations halt progress for a decade.	32:56
STRK /ZK-ROLLUPS	LONG	Tomas Corzir Post-Quantum Ethereum Team Lead at Ethereum Foundation	Tomas explicitly mentions that "Native Account Abstraction" (smart contract wallets) is the superior defense because you can rotate the signature scheme inside the contract logic without moving funds. He specifically cites Starknet as an example of a chain doing this natively. Legacy wallets (EOAs) are tied to their private keys and are hard to upgrade. Chains that enforce Account Abstraction at the protocol level (like Starknet) will have a much smoother, cheaper migration to post-quantum security. This architectural advantage will drive capital migration to these L2s as the quantum threat narrative heats up. Long L2s with native Account Abstraction (specifically Starknet) as the "easiest migration path" for capital. Adoption of these L2s stalls for reasons unrelated to quantum (e.g., user experience or fees).	—
CROSS-CHAIN BRIDGES	AVOID	Tomas Corzir Post-Quantum Ethereum Team Lead at Ethereum Foundation	"Cross-chain weak link bridges are the most critical point of failure... If an attacker uses a quantum computer to forge one valid proof... it could mean an infinite amount of wrapped assets... effectively draining the bridge funds." Bridges concentrate liquidity in multisig contracts that rely on the exact cryptography (ECC) that quantum computers break. Unlike a decentralized network where you might fork to save the chain, a bridge hack is often instantaneous and irreversible. They are the "soft underbelly" of the ecosystem. Avoid holding tokens of bridge protocols or keeping significant liquidity in wrapped assets until post-quantum standards are standardized across both connected chains. Post-quantum standards are adopted faster than expected, mitigating the risk.	—