Kohaku’s project manager at the Ethereum Foundation, Nicolas Consinyi, presented a concept of post-quantum account protection called SPHINCS-which would allow wallets to be protected from attacks by quantum computers without having to perform a hardcore network forking. The cost of implementing security would be around $0.07, and the method is based on the SPHINCS+ signature standard developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Konsinyi adapted the algorithm to operate efficiently on the Ethereum network. The SPHINCS solution does not require a change in protocol and will be an intermediate step before launching the leanSPHINCS system, which will further reduce costs through data aggregation. The new solution should eliminate risks to the digital signature algorithm on elliptical curves that the network now uses.

The discussion about quantum threats intensified after researcher Giancarlo Lelli’s experiment in April using a quantum computer to crack a 15-bit key. Although Bitcoin keys are 256 bits in length, which makes hacking much more difficult, the theoretical threat remains due to Schor’s algorithm. According to Glassnode, around 1.92 million BTC (almost 10% of the supply) is vulnerable to a quantum attack due to its structure, another 4.12 million BTC are at risk due to address management features.