Quantum Threat Model

Solana accounts are controlled by Ed25519 signatures, whose security rests on the hardness of the elliptic-curve discrete logarithm problem. Shor's algorithm, run on a sufficiently large fault-tolerant quantum computer, would solve this problem and allow a private key to be derived from a public key.

EXPOSURE

On Solana the account address is the public key itself, so every funded account is exposed by default. There is no address-hashing buffer as in some UTXO designs.

TIMELINE

No one can state with confidence when, or whether, a cryptographically relevant quantum computer will exist. AFTRKEY treats the threat as plausible, not imminent.

SCOPE

Grover's algorithm weakens hash functions only quadratically; well-chosen hash sizes remain a reasonable basis for commitments. The primary concern is signatures.