A Starknet developer tested hybrid post-quantum signature checks across 11 wallet classes, while benchmark figures show Falcon-512 verification still consumes far more gas than a classical ECDSA check.
Juno, who posts on Starknet’s technical forum as 0xjuno, described the trial in an Oct. 25 post. It ran on Sepolia and covered one account from each of 11 wallet classes. Each account was changed in its own transaction. Juno said the accounts kept their addresses and balances after the switch.
In the test, a transfer signed with both ECDSA and Falcon-512 was accepted, while one signed only with ECDSA was rejected. The prototype has not been audited. Juno said the trial did not cover bridges, settlement on Ethereum, some guardian and hardware signer features, or multisignature accounts.
Starknet said in its Aug. 7 explainer that its accounts are smart contracts whose signature rules can be changed without a network-wide protocol upgrade. The explainer also described an experimental mainnet transfer using post-quantum signatures and noted that it was unaudited.
A challenge run by StarkWare and the Starknet Foundation recorded Falcon-512 verification at 24.1 million gas by Oct. 30, down from a 48.4 million-gas starting figure. StarkWare’s Quantum Hub compares that result with a classical ECDSA check of about 31,000 gas. The figures measure signature verification, not the full cost of a transaction.
Starknet has said that parts of its network, including its bridge and data availability, still rely on Ethereum and elliptic-curve cryptography. Research continues into an independent Layer 1. STRK holders backed further study in a previous poll, but the vote did not approve a move. The Starknet Foundation’s governance update said a transition proposal would return to governance after research and design work.
