Sui Adds Quantum-Resistant Signatures to Long-Term Security Roadmap

Sui, a Layer-1 blockchain, has announced the introduction of two post-quantum signature schemes as part of its long-term security roadmap. The update is designed to protect user accounts and smart contracts from future threats posed by quantum computing, which is expected to eventually undermine the cryptographic foundations underlying widely used classical signature algorithms such as ECDSA. Most major blockchains today rely on elliptic-curve digital signatures for transaction authorization, and cryptographers have long identified these schemes as potentially vulnerable to a sufficiently powerful quantum computer running Shor's algorithm, making post-quantum migration a recognized long-term concern across the blockchain industry.

The network will add ML-DSA-65 for regular user accounts and SLH-DSA-SHA2-128s for smart contract vaults. Both algorithms follow post-quantum cryptography standards approved by NIST, the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology, which finalized its first set of post-quantum cryptography standards in August 2024 after a multi-year selection process. That standardization effort has become a reference point for organizations across finance, government, and decentralized infrastructure that are beginning to assess when and how to transition vulnerable cryptographic systems. ML-DSA, originally submitted under the name CRYSTALS-Dilithium, is a lattice-based digital signature scheme selected by NIST as a primary standard for general-purpose post-quantum signatures. SLH-DSA, originally submitted as SPHINCS+, is a stateless hash-based signature scheme selected by NIST as a complementary standard.

According to the Sui team, using two different signature schemes reduces risk because each relies on different mathematical principles. This layered approach is intended to provide resilience in the event that a future cryptographic breakthrough weakens one family of algorithms but not the other.

The core implementation has already been completed and tested. Quantum-safe vaults are expected to reach Mainnet later this year, while native ML-DSA-65 accounts are planned for Testnet by the end of 2026. Mainnet support for post-quantum account authentication is currently targeted for the first quarter of 2027. Wallet, SDK, and CLI support will be released alongside the rollout, with independent security audits still in progress.