Crypto companies are building quantum-resistant wallets ahead of anticipated blockchain upgrades to protect against future quantum computing threats. Firms like Silence Laboratories are upgrading multi-party computation (MPC) systems using newly standardized algorithms, allowing institutions to secure their infrastructure without major changes. Other approaches include layer-2 overlays for networks like Bitcoin. Experts note that while wallet-level upgrades can proceed quickly, user behavior and coordination with slower blockchain protocol changes remain critical challenges.
Crypto companies are moving to secure wallet and custody offerings against a future quantum computing threat. They aim to upgrade user-facing infrastructure faster than blockchains can change their core protocols.
The shift reflects a view that network-level upgrades to Bitcoin and Ethereum could take years. One recent estimate puts the timeline for the “Q-Day” threat as soon as 2030.
One company working on this is Silence Laboratories, which added support for MPC signatures using ML-DSA. CEO Jay Prakash said the work follows recent developments in post-quantum cryptography, including NIST’s approval of three algorithms.
Prakash said the company spent six months evaluating those algorithms for distributed signing systems. “Not all of SPHINCS+, Falcon, and CRYSTALS-Dilithium will meet the criteria of multi-party computation (MPC) friendliness,” he stated.
The key is generated as shares across isolated nodes, and a signature is produced jointly without reconstruction. This helps protect against quantum computers estimated to break current cryptography within years.
“Institutions are now wired to distributed signing,” Prakash added. He said any bank or custodian with existing MPC infrastructure can migrate to a post-quantum wallet without changing their infrastructure.
The upgrade happens at the wallet level, meaning users would not need to take action. “With a post-quantum wallet SDK, institutions get a clean upgrade path on the infrastructure they already run,” Prakash explained.
The split reflects a broader divide in how the industry approaches quantum risk. Some developers focus on wallet-level upgrades, while others argue only protocol-level changes can fully protect users.
Other companies are taking different approaches. Developers behind a wallet from Postquant Labs are building a system that adds quantum-resistant signatures on top of Bitcoin using a separate layer.
Similar ideas have been proposed, including work from StarkWare researcher Avihu Mordechai Levy. The design is described as a “last-resort” approach rather than a scalable solution.
However, the challenge is timing, and wallet-level fixes have limits. “If wallets are upgraded to post-quantum and chains are not upgrading,” Prakash said, “it won’t work.”
