Two major developments this week highlight how blockchain infrastructure continues to evolve: Bitcoin is moving toward a post-quantum future through experimental protection schemes, while Solana validators have voted for a more aggressive reduction in token issuance.
Key developments: StarkWare is testing Quantum Safe Bitcoin (QSB) on mainnet. Blockstream has proposed SHRINCS, a post-quantum signature scheme designed specifically for Bitcoin. Solana validators approved SGP-0002, doubling the annual disinflation rate to 30% and reducing issuance by 18.9 million SOL over six years.
Despite considerable skepticism among Bitcoin users over how imminent the quantum threat really is, two developments this week highlighted progress in preparing the network for a future in which current cryptographic assumptions may no longer be sufficient.
StarkWare researcher Avihu Levy tested an experimental quantum-resistant transaction on the Bitcoin mainnet designed to protect funds during the brief period when a public key becomes exposed in the mempool.
On-chain data shows that StarkWare spent a 10,000-satoshi output protected by Levy's Quantum Safe Bitcoin, or QSB, scheme. The approach combines hash-based one-time signatures with computational searches that bind authorization to a specific transaction.
Practical limitations: Although the scheme works, it is closer to an emergency fallback than a practical everyday solution. Each transaction can take hours and cost roughly $150 to $200.
On August 27, Blockstream researchers published a Bitcoin Improvement Proposal introducing a post-quantum signature scheme called SHRINCS. The researchers reduced the size of a large hash-based post-quantum signature by roughly 13.23 times. Even after those optimizations, SHRINCS signatures remain at least nine times larger than existing Bitcoin signatures and come with significant trade-offs.
Jonas Nick of Blockstream Research described it as the first concrete proposal for a post-quantum signature scheme designed specifically for Bitcoin. He also acknowledged that it is not optimal in every dimension, but argued that it represents a strong compromise among currently available options.
Solana validators approved a proposal to double the network's annual disinflation rate. The change is expected to reduce token issuance by 18.9 million SOL over the next six years.
Total participation reached 60.7% of eligible stake. The proposal received 67% support, while 25.16% voted against it and 7.84% abstained.
Known as SGP-0002, or Double Disinflation, the measure increases Solana's annual disinflation rate from 15% to 30%.
New schedule: Under the revised schedule, Solana is expected to reach its 1.5% terminal inflation rate in roughly 2.8 years, compared with about 5.7 years under the previous model.
Quantum computers could theoretically break elliptic-curve cryptography used by Bitcoin through Shor's algorithm. In practice, however, such an attack would require fault-tolerant quantum systems with a very large number of high-quality logical qubits and advanced error correction.
Estimates vary widely, with some experts placing cryptographically relevant quantum computers many years or even decades away. The uncertainty itself is one reason developers are beginning preparations early: upgrades to decentralized networks are difficult to coordinate and migrating existing funds could take a long time.
Not all Bitcoin outputs are exposed in the same way:
Old P2PK outputs associated with the earliest years of Bitcoin are therefore often discussed in the context of quantum risk because their public keys are already visible on-chain.
The two approaches illustrate very different strategies for preparing Bitcoin for post-quantum security.
Quantum Safe Bitcoin combines several cryptographic ideas:
The main drawback is computational overhead. Generating the required proofs and performing the necessary searches makes transactions slow and expensive compared with standard Bitcoin spending.
SHRINCS is a stateless hash-based signature scheme tailored to Bitcoin:
Even after optimization, SHRINCS signatures are still much larger than current ECDSA or Schnorr signatures. That creates a direct trade-off between post-quantum security and network efficiency.
Key trade-off: Larger signatures consume more block space and can increase transaction costs. That may be acceptable during a transition period, but it remains a major design consideration for long-term use.
The SGP-0002 vote represents a significant adjustment to Solana's monetary policy.
Doubling annual disinflation from 15% to 30% means:
Different groups may experience the change differently:
Post-quantum upgrades raise a difficult question: how early should a network accept higher costs and complexity in exchange for protection against a threat that may still be years away?
Core question: The challenge is balancing protection against a future threat with the need to preserve today's network efficiency. Moving too early creates unnecessary overhead; moving too late could leave the network exposed.
Post-quantum blockchain development will likely follow several parallel paths. Lattice-based signatures, hash-based schemes, code-based cryptography and hybrid constructions are all being studied for different use cases.
Standardization efforts led by organizations such as NIST are also shaping the broader security landscape. Modern post-quantum standards include algorithms such as ML-KEM, ML-DSA and SLH-DSA, while other schemes remain under continued evaluation for specialized applications.
Different blockchain networks are likely to choose different migration strategies depending on their governance models, performance requirements and appetite for protocol change.
Preparing a large blockchain for post-quantum cryptography involves more than changing a signature algorithm. Wallets, hardware devices, explorers, custody platforms, libraries and infrastructure providers would all need to support the new standard.
Larger signatures could also affect transaction fees, block capacity, storage requirements and node bandwidth. That means any migration will involve economic as well as cryptographic trade-offs.
For institutions, post-quantum readiness may eventually become part of long-term security assessment, especially for assets intended to remain in custody for many years.
The developments around Bitcoin and Solana highlight several broader lessons for blockchain design. Long-lived networks need cryptographic agility — the ability to replace or supplement existing security primitives when conditions change.
They also need governance processes capable of balancing competing interests. Bitcoin tends to favor slow, conservative upgrades with extensive review, while Solana can make economic changes more quickly through validator governance.
Fundamental principle: Cryptographic agility is becoming an increasingly important requirement for blockchain networks expected to survive for decades.
The week's developments also highlight the contrast between the two ecosystems.
Bitcoin generally follows a conservative evolutionary model. Major changes pass through the BIP process, receive extensive technical scrutiny and often take years to move from discussion to implementation. Backward compatibility and broad consensus are major priorities.
Solana uses a faster and more pragmatic governance model. Validator voting can produce significant protocol or monetary-policy changes on much shorter timelines.
Neither approach is universally superior. Bitcoin reduces the risk of rushed changes but can move slowly. Solana can adapt more quickly but must manage the risks that come with faster decision-making.
Post-quantum security is not only a cryptocurrency issue. Governments, universities and technology companies around the world are investing heavily in quantum computing, communications and cryptography.
The geopolitical dimension increases the importance of preparation because a future cryptographically relevant quantum computer could affect banking infrastructure, secure communications, digital identity systems and blockchains at the same time.
That is why standards bodies and security organizations are encouraging migration planning well before current cryptography becomes practically vulnerable.
The most likely path is a gradual transition rather than an overnight quantum crisis. New wallet types and post-quantum spending options could be introduced first, followed by a long migration period for users and institutions.
A faster transition would become necessary only if quantum hardware advances much more rapidly than expected. In that scenario, networks could face pressure to protect already exposed public keys and move vulnerable funds quickly.
Hybrid systems are another possibility, where classical and post-quantum signatures coexist for a period until the newer technology is sufficiently tested and widely supported.
This week's developments — StarkWare's experimental QSB transaction, Blockstream's SHRINCS proposal and Solana's approval of SGP-0002 — show that major blockchain ecosystems are increasingly focused on long-term resilience rather than only near-term performance.
The quantum threat to Bitcoin is real in theory but not immediate in practice. Experimental approaches such as QSB and SHRINCS demonstrate that technical paths exist, although today's solutions still involve substantial compromises in cost, signature size and complexity.
Solana's decision, meanwhile, shows how quickly a blockchain can adjust its monetary policy when governance participants reach sufficient agreement. Doubling the disinflation rate accelerates the network's path toward lower token issuance and reflects a stronger focus on long-term supply dynamics.
Strategic takeaway: The strongest blockchain networks may be those capable of preparing for risks that are still years away while continuing to adapt to economic and technical changes happening today.
