Dormant accounts are the most difficult part. This is one of the quiet confessions buried in Stellar’s newly announced quantum readiness plan, a step-by-step roadmap to transition the entire network to quantum-secure cryptography by the end of 2027.
The Stellar Development Foundation said it would seek input from the community on how to handle deactivated accounts and whether a recovery mechanism is possible.
Threats that begin with mathematics
The urgency behind this plan goes back to Scholl’s algorithm. This algorithm is a mathematical process that sufficiently advanced quantum computers can use to break elliptic curve cryptography. It’s the same signature method that Stellar and most other blockchains rely on today.
Scientists at INRIA have already reduced the number of logical qubits needed to break a 256-bit elliptic curve, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology has revised the risk window to 2029 or earlier. Google also aims to be post-quantum ready by the same year.
Quantum computers will eventually crack the encryption behind nearly all blockchains. This threat will extend far beyond blockchain to every major industry.
It’s not if, it’s when.
On most chains, quantum safety means moving all assets to a new account.
At Stella, you…
— Build on Stellar (@BuildOnStellar) June 9, 2026
Stellar has identified two major risks. The first concerns verifier signatures, whose violations can destabilize network consensus. The second, and more difficult, type is account takeover. Quantum machines could potentially derive private keys directly from public keys.
With thousands of dormant accounts on the network, combating secondary threats at scale is a problem with no easy answer.
Features of Stella
Most blockchains tie addresses directly to public keys. This means that achieving quantum safety typically requires moving your assets to an entirely new account.
Stellar works differently. That account address is separate from the signing key attached to it. Users can add or replace signers through an existing operation called set_options without touching addresses, balances, or transaction history.
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The foundation says its structural design gives the network a smoother path than many other networks.
The rollout will consist of three stages. Starting in 2026, post-quantum signature verification using NIST standard algorithms ML-DSA-44 and ML-DSA-65 will be added to Abacus smart contracts, allowing enterprise wallet migration to begin.
In 2027, the Core Advanced Proposal will bring quantum-secure signer types natively to classic accounts, allowing all existing users to add signer types alongside their current keys.
The third phase, the retirement of the old Ed25519 standard, does not have a firm date and will depend on how quantum computing develops and how ready the broader ecosystem is.
One gap remains
Not all-inclusive. According to the report, zero-knowledge proof systems running on the network use pairing-based curves, which are also vulnerable to quantum attacks, and the Foundation acknowledged that further research is needed in this area. A separate collaboration with the ZK Protocol team is planned to address this.
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