Nine blockchain groups unite to set open standards for post-quantum readiness

A group of nine blockchain organizations has formed the Quantum Alliance to develop open standards for assessing quantum readiness across blockchain networks, wallets and infrastructure. The alliance launched Thursday with contributors from Quantus, American Fortress, Intmax, Keystone, Midnight Foundation, Postquant Labs, Abelian, The Vault and Hacken. It will publish its work openly, allowing projects and independent observers to evaluate implementations against the same criteria. The group seeks to address the absence of industry-wide standards for verifying whether blockchain systems are resistant to quantum attacks. Most crypto networks continue to rely on elliptic-curve signatures, which could be broken by sufficiently powerful quantum computers. The announcement estimates that about 6 million BTC, representing more than 30% of the total supply, is quantum-exposed at rest. Almost the entire $2.9 trillion crypto market also relies on classical signatures. In addition, recent research has reduced estimates of the computing resources needed to attack existing cryptography, while some forecasts suggest practical quantum threats could emerge around 2028 or 2029. “In the future, ‘po...