Tezos Debuts Post-Quantum Testnet Ahead of 2029 Deadline

Tezos has launched Quantumnet, its first experimental post-quantum testnet, aimed at improving the network's security and long-term adoption. The testnet is built by Nomadic Labs, Trilitech, and other ecosystem contributors and integrates quantum-resistant primitives to replace elliptic-curve cryptography. This comes as Google sets 2029 as its deadline for migrating to post-quantum cryptography.

The testnet switches on quantum-resistant replacements across several layers of the protocol, including accounts with ML-DSA-44, baking rights with a Smooth Weighted Round Robin, and consensus attestations with hash-based XMSS signatures. Confidential transactions are handled at the application level by TzEL, while data availability commitments have been replaced with ZODA.

The testnet is explicitly non-production and will be monitored via a public dashboard as the team hardens components for a potential protocol amendment through Tezos on-chain governance. This marks the first milestone toward a fully post-quantum instance of the network running on mainnet.