Justin Drake

Bitcoin

2026-09-21 20:40:56

Justin Drake says Satoshi-era Bitcoin addresses face quantum risk

Bitcoin security researcher Justin Drake said in an interview that early mining addresses linked to Satoshi Nakamoto could be vulnerable to quantum attacks because they used raw public keys instead of hashed addresses. He said the addresses in question hold about 1 million BTC. Drake added that ordinary users remain safe as long as they move bitcoin to a fresh address and do not spend from it, since the public key is not exposed in that case. He also said even the fastest quantum computers currently being discussed would still need time to break keys, so users do not need to rush into post-quantum cryptography tools that are still under development. According to Drake, Bitcoin developers are already testing quantum-resistant approaches, including Quantum Safe Bitcoin transactions that do not require consensus changes and the BIP-361 proposal, which is designed to gradually freeze vulnerable addresses. The report was cited by CryptoPotato.

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Ethereum

2026-08-14 03:53:48

Ethereum Drops Poseidon for SHA2 and BLAKE2 in Layer 1 Post-Quantum Shift

Ethereum is moving away from Poseidon at Layer 1, ending years of work around a hash function long favored in SNARK-based systems. On Aug. 13, Ethereum researcher Justin Drake said on X that the Ethereum Foundation had decided to abandon Poseidon in favor of traditional hash functions such as SHA2 or BLAKE2. The change comes after eight years of research, tens of millions of dollars in spending, and a broader reset of Ethereum’s post-quantum roadmap. The key technical driver is progress in binary-field SNARK design, which allows traditional hash functions to perform inside proving systems at speeds that were previously associated with SNARK-optimized designs. Drake said a laptop can now verify about 1 million conventional hash calls per second in a SNARK setting, while recent benchmarks from projects including Flock and SNARK.fast point to sharply improved throughput. The roadmap itself remains in place. Ethereum still expects a production-grade leanVM in 2027, followed by deployments across the consensus, execution, and data layers in 2028. The Foundation has also expanded its post-quantum work through pq.ethereum.org, weekly interoperability devnets involving more than 10 client teams, and two $1 million research prizes. The shift also comes as Solana and Starknet advance their own post-quantum plans using Falcon and BLAKE2-based transitions.

1650

Ethereum

2026-08-06 05:15:10

Ethereum’s EIP-8363 Sparks a Fight Over Staking Rewards, Validator Economics, and ETH’s Role

A newly filed Ethereum proposal, EIP-8363, has triggered one of the network’s sharpest recent debates by proposing a new issuance-burn mechanism that would steadily reduce consensus-layer staking rewards as total ETH staked rises. The draft, submitted on Aug. 4 by six researchers including EthCC founder Jérôme de Tychey and Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake, argues that Ethereum keeps offering a positive incentive for more staking even when added economic security may be delivering diminishing returns. Under the proposal, when effective stake approaches 60.25 million ETH — roughly half of current ETH supply — consensus-layer issuance to validators would be fully offset by a new burn. The draft does not cap staking at 50%, and it does not touch priority fees or MEV, but it would push net consensus issuance toward zero at higher staking levels. Supporters say the change could reduce dilution for unstaked ETH holders and slow the concentration of stake among custodians, exchanges, and liquid staking providers. Critics say it could hit solo stakers, weaken the yield case for institutions, pressure LST-based strategies, and reshape DeFi’s core ETH rate structure. The proposal remains an unmerged Core EIP draft and has not been added to the formal Hegotá Meta EIP.

1950

Ethereum

2026-08-05 09:56:58

Six Ethereum Researchers Float Draft to Burn Validator Rewards and Drive Issuance to Zero at 50% Staking

Six Ethereum researchers and developers have published a draft proposal that would burn an increasing share of validator rewards as total ETH staked rises, with the mechanism reaching full effect at 60,250,000 ETH staked. At that level, described as roughly half of the current ETH supply, a validator performing its assigned duties would see net consensus-layer issuance fall to zero. The proposal leaves execution-layer revenue untouched, so transaction fees and MEV would still flow to validators. The authors say the design changes how Ethereum distributes the cost of staking incentives. Issuance would peak near a 19.8% staking ratio and then decline, rather than continuing to rise as more ETH is staked, which would limit dilution borne by holders who do not stake. For stakers, though, the impact is meaningful: at today’s staking ratio, net consensus yield would drop from about 2.6% to 1.2% if applied in full. To soften that effect, the draft suggests temporarily doubling the base reward factor to 128 before bringing it back to the current 64 over roughly 18 months. Still, criticism has emerged quickly. Aave founder Stani Kulechov said the proposal would be harmful to Ethereum, while ether.fi CEO Silagadze argued it could pressure solo stakers and favor large centralized operators. The draft also arrived just two days before the Aug. 6 deadline for EIP submissions to the Hegota upgrade.

1790

Ethereum

2026-08-04 14:10:00

Ethereum Foundation Members Propose EIP-8361 to Cut Staking Yield to 0%

On August 4, Ethereum Foundation member Justin Drake and others proposed EIP-8361, a new proposal aimed at lowering Ethereum's inflation rate. Under the proposal, staking yields would drop to 0% if staked ETH exceeds 50% of the supply. Based on current staking levels, rewards would be halved to 1%.

1690

Ethereum

2026-07-28 10:16:06

Ethereum’s 2030 roadmap centers on faster finality, quantum resistance and native privacy

Ethereum’s long-range research agenda is being consolidated into a single framework that stretches from the planned Glamsterdam upgrade in the second half of 2026 through a series of hard forks expected to run into 2029. The draft document, known as “Strawmap,” follows Justin Drake’s Lean Ethereum vision and groups the network’s ambitions into five “North Star” goals. Those goals cover a faster Layer 1 with finality cut from roughly 15 minutes to seconds, a jump in Layer 1 throughput from about 5 million gas per second to 1 billion gas per second, a Layer 2 data path that could scale to 1 GB per second, a post-quantum cryptography transition, and native privacy features at the base layer. The proposal remains a draft and is still being revised. Glamsterdam has already slipped from the first half of 2026 to the second half. Even so, the document offers one of the clearest looks yet at how Ethereum researchers see the chain evolving by 2030: a settlement-focused base layer, a larger role for ZK proofs across consensus and execution, a wider field of independent development groups alongside a smaller Ethereum Foundation, and a network designed to be faster, more trust-minimized and more resilient to future cryptographic threats.

1700

Ethereum Foun

2026-07-23 21:30:15

Ethereum Foundation Unveils Strawmap Roadmap: 7 Forks Target 10,000 TPS, Quantum Security by 2029

Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake unveiled Strawmap, a protocol roadmap planning about seven hard forks by end of 2029. Key goals include sub-second L1 finality, 1 Gigagas/sec throughput, post-quantum cryptography, and native shielded transactions.

610

Ethereum

2026-07-23 02:30:14

Ethereum Foundation Releases Strawmap With Seven Potential Forks Through 2029

The Ethereum Foundation has published a draft long-range roadmap called Strawmap, outlining seven possible protocol forks through 2029 and five technical goals for Ethereum’s future upgrades.

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