Post-Quantum

STRK

2026-10-11 10:36:04

STRK jumps 55% in 24 hours, briefly tops $0.12 as Starknet L1 and post-quantum narrative gains traction

STRK, the token tied to Starknet, extended its 24-hour gain to 55% and briefly moved above $0.12 before trading at $0.11, according to HTX market data. The move put it at the top of the altcoin market on the day. Traders appeared to focus on recent comments from StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson, who said blockchains need post-quantum readiness and cryptographic agility as quantum computing and AI acceleration create new security pressure. In remarks at Token2049 and in follow-up comments, Ben-Sasson said Starknet is actively weighing several paths, including separating from Ethereum and becoming an independent Layer 1 network. He said that route would allow the project to control the pace of its security migration, with a target of achieving full quantum resistance by 2027, earlier than Ethereum’s current timeline. The token’s move also came alongside recent product and ecosystem updates. Starknet’s v0.14.4 mainnet release went live on Oct. 5, expanding SNIP-36 single-proof capacity to about 1.1 billion L2 gas and allowing verification of proofs for larger off-chain computation. On Oct. 2, the strkBTC incentive program launched, covering bridge fees for the first 100 bridged BTC and distributing a weekly faucet.

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Vitalik Buter

2026-10-08 10:12:28

Vitalik says AI-driven math breakthroughs could threaten crypto wallets before quantum computing

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin says the crypto industry should take seriously the risk that artificial intelligence could speed up mathematical research and shorten the effective lifespan of today’s cryptographic systems. His warning came in response to comments from Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake, who argued that a meaningful break in existing cryptography may not need to wait for large-scale quantum computers. Buterin also stressed that there is no public evidence that AI has broken the wallet signatures used by Bitcoin or Ethereum, and he does not recommend panic-driven fund transfers at this stage. He said moving assets to fresh addresses that have never sent a transaction can serve as an added precaution in some cases, though wallet migration itself carries operational risks such as incorrect addresses, backup mistakes, or signing the wrong transaction. The discussion goes beyond current elliptic-curve cryptography. Buterin said even lattice-based cryptography, a major post-quantum research direction, may need renewed scrutiny if AI sharply improves the pace of algorithm discovery. Ethereum is already studying hash-based signature schemes such as leanXMSS and SPHINCS, while the Ethereum Foundation set up a dedicated post-quantum security research team in 2026.

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Quantus

2026-10-08 07:48:00

Quantus draws attention with a post-quantum privacy pitch, while its premine split sparks criticism

Quantus, a newly launched Layer 1 blockchain, has picked up attention on the back of a dual narrative: post-quantum security and privacy. The proof-of-work network, which positions itself as peer-to-peer electronic cash for the quantum era, launched mainnet on Sept. 9, 2026 and says it was built from the ground up to address risks that future quantum computers could pose to today’s signature schemes. The project uses ML-DSA (Dilithium), a NIST-selected post-quantum digital signature standard, and combines it with a STARK-based zero-knowledge system and signature aggregation to reduce the on-chain footprint of large post-quantum signatures. Quantus has also tied its story to privacy. Its Wormhole address model uses provable burn-and-remint flows plus locally generated zero-knowledge proofs to break the direct on-chain link between sender and recipient. The project has gained extra visibility from backers including Balaji, Babak Nivi and Helius founder Mert, with Balaji also disclosed by co-founder Joseph Mattia as an advisor. That investor roster has drawn notice because of its overlap with the Zcash orbit. At the same time, Quantus faces criticism over tokenomics. According to project disclosures, 27% of QTC’s total supply was minted at genesis, including 23% allocated to investors, founders and the team, plus 4% allocated to the company. Community criticism has focused on whether that distribution sits uneasily with the project’s Bitcoin-like fixed-supply and proof-of-work framing.

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StarkWare

2026-10-09 14:20:11

StarkWare says it tested a quantum-safe Bitcoin locking scheme on mainnet

StarkWare researchers have tested a quantum-safe Bitcoin scheme, known as QSB, on Bitcoin mainnet, according to a post introduced by Starknet on Oct. 9. The company said the mechanism does not require a soft fork, new opcodes, or changes to Bitcoin’s consensus rules. The first QSB output was spent on Aug. 26, 2026, in Bitcoin block 964,199, and the associated GPU computation cost has fallen from about $320 to about $50. The design, created by StarkWare researcher Avihu Levy, uses hash-based computation to build a locking mechanism instead of relying on elliptic-curve private keys, which are widely seen as vulnerable to future quantum attacks. Still, StarkWare said QSB should not be read as proof that Bitcoin is now fully quantum-safe. Each transaction remains computationally heavy, moving existing assets into the scheme still requires a traditional transaction that carries quantum risk, and QSB transactions do not comply with Bitcoin Core’s default relay policy. They must be sent through miners willing to accept them directly. The company also said there are no supporting wallets, address formats, or recovery procedures yet. StarkWare described QSB as an emergency research approach rather than a replacement for a broader Bitcoin post-quantum upgrade.

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Quantus

2026-10-08 07:50:09

Quantus draws attention with post-quantum privacy pitch as token pre-mine faces scrutiny

Quantus, a newly launched layer-1 blockchain, has become a talking point in crypto markets after positioning itself around two themes now drawing fresh attention: privacy and post-quantum security. The project, which launched its mainnet on Sept. 9, 2026, describes itself as peer-to-peer electronic cash built for the quantum era. It uses ML-DSA (Dilithium), a signature scheme selected in the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology’s post-quantum cryptography standardization process, and pairs that design with zero-knowledge proofs and a proof-of-work model. The project has also benefited from a notable investor roster. Quantus has raised about $2.42 million across two rounds, with the second round led by Balaji and joined by AngelList co-founder Babak Nivi and Helius founder Mert. That backing has drawn extra attention because several of the names involved have long-standing ties to Zcash, a privacy coin that has recently returned to the spotlight. At the same time, Quantus is facing criticism over its token structure. According to the project’s tokenomics, 27% of QTC’s total supply was minted at genesis, including 23% allocated to investors, founders and the team, plus 4% for the company. Critics in the community argue that the setup sits uneasily with the project’s Bitcoin-like messaging around fixed supply, scarcity and proof-of-work issuance.

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Cavero Secure

2026-10-09 09:47:35

Cavero Secure launches CaveroCTX protocol for autonomous AI governance

Cavero Secure has announced the launch of the CaveroCTX protocol, described as a new approach to autonomous AI governance. The company was identified in the source as a pioneer in continuous identity security and post-quantum trust architecture. The update was carried by Techub News, with Finextra cited as the source. No additional product details, rollout timeline, or technical specifications were disclosed in the provided brief. The announcement centers on CaveroCTX as the core release and frames it as a breakthrough method for governing autonomous AI systems. Based on the source text, the report is limited to the launch announcement and the company description tied to Cavero Secure’s positioning in identity security and post-quantum trust architecture.

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Stacks

2026-10-07 03:52:01

Muneeb Ali says IP tied to Stacks will move to the Stacks Endowment

Muneeb Ali, the head of Stacks Labs for the Bitcoin Layer 2 network Stacks, has outlined his CEO plan and said the relevant intellectual property will be transferred to the Stacks Endowment. He also committed to publishing a two-year roadmap covering Bitcoin privacy and post-quantum technology. In addition, Ali said he will hold a public call for token holders within 30 days. The update lays out three specific commitments: an intellectual property transfer tied to the Stacks ecosystem, a two-year development roadmap, and a near-term public discussion with token holders. No further details on the transfer process or the roadmap timeline beyond the two-year scope and 30-day call window were disclosed in the source material.

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Policy Regula

2026-09-10 01:26:26

US commits up to $300 million to quantum hardware as Bitcoin and Ethereum race toward a 2029 post-quantum window

The US Commerce Department finalized a quantum funding package on Sept. 9, setting up CHIPS Act grants of up to $100 million each for Rigetti, D-Wave and Quantinuum, while also taking minority equity stakes in the three companies. The money is earmarked for hardware, manufacturing capacity and error-correction systems needed to build larger fault-tolerant quantum machines. At the same time, Ethereum’s protocol team has set December 2029 as a self-imposed deadline for making the base layer quantum-resistant across execution, consensus and data, based on an assumption that a potential "Q-Day" could arrive as early as 2030. Bitcoin has no single network-wide deadline, but work this year around BIP-360 and BIP-361 has accelerated, and researchers and institutions are also treating 2029 as the point by which a credible migration path needs to be in place. Estimates from Google Quantum AI and roadmaps from IBM and Quantinuum are tightening that timeline, turning post-quantum migration from a long-range discussion into an engineering and coordination problem for crypto’s two largest networks.

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