Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, August 6th, 2026/Chainwire/--
The quantum timeline is different for blockchains, because a public key onchain is different from a public key anywhere else. In most systems, an attacker needs a breach before they can start working on a key. Onchain, the key is already published, exposed permanently the moment an account transacts.
Shor's algorithm breaks the elliptic-curve cryptography behind most onchain accounts today, the same math securing banking systems and most of the internet. Harvest-now-forge-later collection doesn't require quantum hardware; it requires a visible key and patience. The exposure is already accruing. In March 2026,
That’s why Sui is adopting two signature schemes matched to different kinds of risk, rather than betting on one algorithm.
- ML-DSA-65 (FIPS 204) for native accounts. For everyday transactions, ML-DSA-65 becomes a native protocol signature scheme. Sui is integrating Level 3 rather than the cheaper Level 1, following a July 2026 incident where an AI model halved the effective key strength of HAWK, a post-quantum signature candidate, in about 60 hours, after two years of expert human review had cleared it. The rest of the internet stack is converging on the same choice too:AWS KMS now offers ML-DSA signing in its hardware-backed key service, andAndroid 17's Keystore generates quantum-safe signatures inside the device's secure hardware starting at ML-DSA-65, skipping the 44 parameter set entirely.
- SLH-DSA-SHA2-128s (FIPS 205) for smart contract vaults. For high-value assets, hash-based signatures are handled inside Move contracts rather than the protocol core. Hash-based security is the better-understood of the two families, and keeping it in-contract means Sui can stay compatible with whichever post-quantum standards the wider industry settles on, without a core protocol upgrade. Given Sui's bridges to other networks, that adaptability matters.
The two rest on different mathematics, so a weakness found in one does not undermine the other. Both follow
Users Keep Their Recovery Phrase and Their Address
Sui was built for cryptographic agility, which means signature schemes can be added without disturbing the fundamentals of the network. That property is the difference between a migration and a rebuild, and it is why the work described here is a routine protocol-feature update rather than a change to consensus or existing state.
The hardest part of any cryptographic migration is not the new algorithm. The problem is that everyone is already using the old one.
On Sui, an ML-DSA-65 private key is a 32-byte seed, the same size wallets store today, derived from the same recovery phrase through a new standard derivation path. Wallets back up and restore exactly as they do now.
Existing accounts have a path that does not involve moving funds.
The honest cost is size. A post-quantum signature and public key are substantially larger than an Ed25519 pair, which increases transaction size. That is the price the whole industry is paying for quantum resistance. Verification is the part that could have hurt and does not: ML-DSA-65 verification on Sui is close enough to Ed25519 that per-signature network cost does not rise. Sui's transaction size limit and support for programmable transaction blocks absorb the rest, and further optimization work is underway.
Post Quantum Rollout Timeline
The core implementation is built and benchmarked. Quantum-safe vaults are targeted for Mainnet this year, with native ML-DSA-65 accounts reaching Testnet by end of year and native account authentication on Mainnet targeted for Q1 2027. Wallet, SDK, and CLI support will arrive alongside. Independent audits are underway, and timelines stay open while that review and Testnet feedback continue. This reflects current direction, not a finished, fully audited release.
Post-quantum accounts arrive as an additive, opt-in capability, through the same rollout path zkLogin and passkeys used. Nothing existing changes, and no application needs to do anything today.
For background on how each Sui primitive transitions to post-quantum cryptography, users can see
About Sui
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Contact
Sui Foundation
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This story was published as a press release by Chainwire under HackerNoon’s Business Blogging
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This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Cryptocurrencies are speculative, complex, and involve high risks. This can mean high prices volatility and potential loss of your initial investment. You should consider your financial situation, investment purposes, and consult with a financial advisor before making any investment decisions. The HackerNoon editorial team has only verified the story for grammatical accuracy and does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of the information stated in this article. #DYOR