Solana’s Quantumglow proposal would adapt validator consensus and block authentication for post-quantum security, a design that leaves the network’s account and wallet signatures outside its scope.
The research dates to July, before Alpenglow activated on mainnet Wednesday, Oct. 21, with a finality target of about 150 milliseconds. Quantumglow outlines possible changes to adapt that upgrade for post-quantum security. It remains a proposal.
One part, Distributed Quorum Signatures, would represent certificates as local validator records backed by vote and approval messages. The proposal says the size of each message would stay constant as the number of nodes changes, while total communication would grow quadratically as the network expands. They describe the design’s stated behavior, not results measured on Solana mainnet.
Ax, or Alpenglow XMSS, would use hash-based cryptography for validator signatures. Before signing, validators would distribute one-time public-key material among themselves and retain it for later use.
For block payloads, Quantumglow would pair a signed commitment with authenticated communication channels. The design is intended to let block fragments avoid carrying their own large signatures, addressing data authentication alongside validator consensus.
Solana’s earlier quantum migration planning covered signature options and a possible staged transition for wallets. Quantumglow focuses on validator operations, so its proposed changes do not extend post-quantum signing protection to user accounts or wallets.
Solana Developers have announced no implementation schedule for Quantumglow.
