Ethereum's Post-Quantum Signatures 40x Larger, Pressuring Throughput and Fees
Ethereum announced a push to harden the protocol against quantum attacks, creating a dedicated post‑quantum team led by Thomas Coratger and offering $1 million in rewards to strengthen hash‑based primitives. The trade‑off surfaced quickly: proposed post‑quantum signatures are roughly 40x larger than current signatures, which would consume far more blockspace, reduce on‑chain throughput, and put upward pressure on gas fees for users and dapps. The move is significant because it forces a choice between long‑term security and short‑term scalability. Developers and protocol designers will need to pursue mitigations such as signature aggregation, layer‑2 batching, or protocol adjustments while the PQ team and community stress‑test hash‑based options. The outcome will matter to validators, rollup operators, and everyday ETH users who rely on predictable fees and capacity.