The Stellar Development Foundation on Tuesday unveiled a sweeping three-stage roadmap to protect its blockchain network from the coming threat of quantum computing. The move underscores growing alarm about a technological shift that experts warn could eventually unravel the cryptographic foundations securing trillions of dollars in digital assets.
The proposed roadmap would unfold in three stages. In 2026, post-quantum signature verification will be added to Stellar's smart contract layer, allowing enterprise wallets to begin migrating immediately. In 2027, a protocol-level upgrade will enable every Stellar account to add a quantum-safe signer while keeping the same address. The third stage—fully deprecating the current cryptography—will be timed based on quantum computing progress and community readiness.
One unresolved challenge involves dormant accounts whose holders are unreachable. Any hard cutoff would effectively freeze those accounts, and the Foundation says that decision will require open community discussion rather than a top-down resolution.
Experts say that quantum computers will eventually break the elliptic curve cryptography that secures most major blockchain networks, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Stellar. While the quantum threat will impact many kinds of cryptography, such networks face a particularly acute vulnerability because their ledgers are public and permanent—meaning encrypted data harvested today could be decrypted the moment quantum hardware becomes powerful enough.
