THIS WEEK
Lattice vs. Hash-Only Debate
EIP-8450 Draft Published
Quantinuum’s Logical Fidelity Record
LEAD
Lattice vs. Hash-Only Debate
10/20/2026 |
StarkWare’s Eli Ben-Sasson shared (
) his thoughts on a post from a16z crypto (
) arguing for the use of lattices, stating that “Lattices have juicy mathematical structure, ripe for AI to attack. And the succinct versions based on module SIS are too new -- only around since 2012. I recommend waiting another 3-5 years for AI to kick the tires, before entrusting serious $ with it.”
Justin Thaler, research partner at a16z, shared his perspective on the discussion around the use of lattice vs. hash-only post-quantum signatures. Thaler argues that the argument that a hash-only approach is more conservative than lattices is not entirely true due to the reliance on SNARK recursion, which itself may be found to be insecure. Thaler also argues that for privacy networks, lattices will offer functionality, i.e., public-key encryption and fast single-server PIR, that wouldn’t be possible using hashes alone.
NETWORK UPDATES
EIP-8450: Post-Quantum Validator Key Registry Draft Published
10/19/2026 | https://ethereum-magicians.org/t/eip-8450-post-quantum-validator-key-registry/30046
A draft of EIP-8450: Post-Quantum Validator Key Registry was published on Oct. 19, 2026. The EIP adds a post-quantum public key registry to the beacon state, in which each validator registers a hash-based public key linked to its existing validator index.
Starknet L1 Research Proposal Passes
10/22/2026 |
https://governance.starknet.io/#/s:starknet.eth/proposal/0x31dffc8b6f24c580540cc967fdede3d8e9d513c105d3f699a14ae65bd0dc5d74/votes
Starknet’s non-binding signaling proposal on researching a migration of Starknet to an independent layer 1 passed on Oct. 22, 2026, with 93.52% of voting power voting in favor.
QUANTUM HARDWARE & ESTIMATES
Quantinuum’s Helios Computer Logical Fidelity Record
Quantinuum announced that its Helios computer achieved a logical fidelity of 99.9995%. Quantinuum says that the error rate is a world record, 10x better than its own Sept. 2026 record and 100x lower than Google Quantum AI’s result using a superconducting system.
INFRASTRUCTURE & VENDORS
Project Eleven and Relm Insurance Partnership
Project Eleven announced Relm Insurance as a development partner for Strongpoint, Project Eleven’s custody product. The announcement states the partnership will “explore how an institution’s post-quantum security controls could be evaluated within digital asset insurance underwriting.”
LISTEN / READ
Ready for Merge: Ethereum’s Post-Quantum Roadmap feat. Nixo and Antonio Sanso
10/23/2026 |
,
Nixo Rokish and Antonio Sanso speak with Christine D. Kim about Ethereum’s post-quantum roadmap, outlining the steps and timelines to target PQ readiness.
Unchained: Why Crypto May Need a ‘Bunker Mode’ for Both Quantum and AI Threats
10/21/2026 |
Project Eleven co-founders Alex Pruden and Conor Deegan speak with Laura Shin on the risk of AI and quantum to cryptocurrencies.