Ripple announced a quantum resistance roadmap, aiming to make XRP Ledger quantum-resistant by 2028

Ripple officially announced its quantum resistance roadmap, with the core goal of making the XRP Ledger (XRPL) quantum-resistant by 2028. The roadmap primarily addresses the potential attack mode of "harvest now, decrypt later," where attackers collect encrypted data now and wait for future quantum computers to mature before cracking it.

The entire plan will be implemented in four phases:

Phase 1: Q-Day Emergency Preparedness (Already Started). Establish a Q-Day emergency response mechanism. If the existing classical encryption system is suddenly compromised, the network will immediately stop accepting traditional public key signatures, forcing a migration to quantum-safe accounts. At the same time, explore asset ownership verification solutions based on Post-Quantum ZK-proofs, allowing existing account holders to safely recover funds in emergencies without exposing vulnerable keys.

Phase 2: Risk Assessment and Algorithm Testing (First Half of 2026). Conduct a comprehensive assessment of the impact of post-quantum cryptography on the performance, storage, and bandwidth of the XRP Ledger network. Collaborate with Project Eleven to conduct validator-level testing and Devnet benchmarking, deploy NIST standardized ML-DSA quantum-safe signature schemes, and develop prototypes for post-quantum custodial wallets. Core engineer Denis Angell has already deployed ML-DSA signatures on XRPL's AlphaNet.

Phase 3: Devnet Hybrid Integration (Second Half of 2026). Parallel integration of candidate post-quantum signature schemes with existing elliptic curve signatures on the developer network (Devnet), allowing developers to test performance and system impacts without affecting the mainnet. At the same time, explore post-quantum zero-knowledge proof primitives and homomorphic encryption technologies for Confidential Transfers to enhance the privacy and compliance capabilities of tokenized real-world assets on XRPL.

Phase 4: Full Mainnet Upgrade (Target 2028). Submit a formal protocol amendment, which will be fully enabled on the mainnet after being approved by validator votes, to implement native post-quantum cryptography. Focus on production-ready optimization: throughput tuning, validator reliability assurance, and coordinated migration of the ecosystem, ensuring a complete transition without affecting network speed and settlement finality.