THIS WEEK
Alice & Bob Resource Estimates
Verona Implements PQ Signatures
NIST Shares Guidelines on PQ Transition
LEAD
Alice & Bob Resource Estimate Record for Running Shor on RSA-2048
Alice & Bob released a resource estimate for running Shor’s algorithm on RSA-2048 using Alice & Bob’s cat-qubit architecture, with the result needing 22,593 physical qubits and 3.14 days to break. Alice & Bob stated no published architecture is smaller at this runtime.
Additionally, Alice & Bob estimate that ECDLP on secp256k1, the curve used by Bitcoin, can be broken in 61.8 minutes using 29,588 cat qubits, which was noted as an upper bound since only RSA-2048 was compiled in full.
NETWORK UPDATES
Draft Post-Quantum PeerDAS and Variable-Size Blobs Posted
10/31/2026 | https://github.com/ethereum/EIPs/pull/12604#issue-6142946925
The first draft of the EIP, which will replace quantum-vulnerable PeerDAS KZG commitments and proofs with Merkle authentication and a LeanDA STARK, has been published. The proposal will also introduce variable-size blobs and integrate with EIP-8141 and EIP-8288.
Category Labs Publishes Paper on Post-Quantum Consensus Protocol
10/23/2026 | https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.32803 | https://www.category.xyz/quantum-cadence | https://monad.xyz/blog/quantum-cadence-part-1
Category Labs, developers associated with Monad, shared a paper on Quantum Cadence, the proposed post-quantum consensus protocol that could be used in Monad. The paper outlines that Quantum Cadence upgrades Cadence, Category Labs’ multi-proposer consensus protocol, by removing BLS signature aggregation and instead having validators count each other’s votes directly.
First Working Version of leanXMSS in Lean 4 Shared
10/28/2026 |
| https://github.com/ethereum/EthLib/tree/master/EthLib/Cryptography/Xmss
The first working version of leanXMSS in Lean 4 has been shared. This implementation is planned to be used in Ethereum’s post-quantum validator public key registry.
Verona Implements PQ Signatures with v32 Upgrade, Fermi
10/28/2026 |
| https://yellow.com/news/verona-launches-fermi-mainnet-v32-with-nist-post-quantum-cryptography
Verona, via its v32 upgrade, has implemented ML-DSA-65 and SLH-DSA-128s signatures on mainnet. The team stated that validator keys will move to “ML-DSA and consensus itself goes post-quantum once two-thirds of voting power rotates,” and that support for FN-DSA will be added following its finalization by NIST.
MultiversX Plan for Post-Quantum Accounts
10/29/2026 | https://x.com/MultiversX/article/2115833933409796474
MultiversX outlines its plan to add PQ signatures through a new account model, which separates the permanent address from the key authorized to sign. The team’s post outlines the upgrade process as allowing users to register new PQ keys; the new keys are activated through a network upgrade, deprecating previous Ed25519 signatures. ML-DSA is the initial candidate to be implemented, and Falcon is under consideration.
CRYPTOGRAPHY & STANDARDS
NIST Provides Guidelines on Transition to Post-Quantum Cryptography
10/27/2026 | https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2026/10/nist-report-provides-guidelines-transition-post-quantum-cryptography | https://csrc.nist.gov/pubs/ir/8547/final
NIST published what it calls its official approach and timeline for the transition from quantum-vulnerable algorithms to PQ standards, targeted at federal agencies, industry partners and standards organizations. The final report deprecates ECDSA, EdDSA, and RSA at all approved key sizes after 2030 and disallows them after 2035.
DEALS & COMPANIES
Intel to Acquire Classiq
10/26/2026 | https://www.intc.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/1784/intel-to-acquire-classiq-to-create-a-full-stack-quantum | https://www.reuters.com/technology/intel-buy-quantum-firm-classiq-about-23-billion-bloomberg-news-reports-2026-10-27/
Intel announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire quantum computing software provider Classiq. The acquisition is reported to be valued at “about $2.3 billion.”
LISTEN / READ
Transcripts and Summaries from Post-Quantum Workshop with lclhost, Dan Boneh, and Coinbase
10/28/2026 | Transcripts: https://btctranscripts.com/quantum-workshop/2026-08 | lclhost notes: https://lclhost.org/blog/quantum-workshop-2026/ | Coinbase takeaways: https://www.coinbase.com/blog/moving-bitcoins-post-quantum-readiness-forward
Coinbase, lclhost and Dan Boneh hosted a post-quantum workshop in August and have released transcripts of the conversations that were hosted, and Coinbase and lclhost have published notes on the event.
How Turnkey Is Preparing for AI and Quantum Threats to Elliptic Curve Cryptography
10/28/2026 | https://www.turnkey.com/blog/quantum-computing-bitcoin-security
Turnkey released a blog outlining its view and plan for addressing quantum risk, stating that its security team does not see a reason for a rushed migration.