Analysis: Solana Quantum Threat Experiment Reveals Trade-Off Between Security and Speed

ME News message, April 4 (UTC+8). As Bitcoin developers urgently search for quantum-safe solutions, Ethereum prepares for “Q-Day,” and Solana is trying to get ahead of potential threats. Currently, Project Eleven is working with the Solana Foundation to deploy quantum-safe signatures (Post-Quantum Signatures) on the testnet, simulating how the network would operate after replacing the existing cryptographic algorithms. Preliminary results show that quantum-safe signatures are about 20–40 times larger than the current signatures, causing the network’s transaction processing speed to drop by about 90%, directly impacting Solana’s design advantage, which is known for high throughput and low latency. In addition, Solana’s public-key design exposes the entire network 100% to quantum-attack risk; hackers can choose any wallet and try to recover the private key. The risk is higher than the technical and community-coordination challenges faced by BitcoinEthereum’s main net. Solana is leading the industry in quantum-safe experiments and already has a quantum-safe testnet that can actually run. Project Eleven CEO Alex Pruden said, “If the industry waits until quantum threats truly arrive before starting remediation, it may take four years.” (Source: ODAILY)