On March 31, Google Quantum AI published a new whitepaper showing "that future quantum computers may break the elliptic curve cryptography that protects cryptocurrency and other systems with fewer qubits and gates than previously realized." They argue that PQC "represents a well-understood path to post-quantum blockchain security, underwriting confidence in the long-term viability of cryptocurrencies and the digital economy in a world with CRQCs," and provide examples of post-quantum deployments on various blockchains, including Algorand.
They write:
Algorand (ALGO) provides an example of real-world deployment of PQC on an otherwise quantum-vulnerable blockchain. It launched in 2019 as a Pure-Proof-of-Stake blockchain for smart contracts and fast transactions. Smart contracts on Algorand are written in popular high-level programming languages like Python and TypeScript and are compiled to assembly-like Transaction Execution Approval Language (TEAL) which executes on the Algorand Virtual Machine (AVM). In addition to builtin single- and multi-signature transactions, Algorand supports stateless smart signatures and stateful smart contracts for DeFi applications. Algorand’s consensus and builtin transactions are based on quantum-vulnerable Ed25519 digital signature scheme. However, it has recently deployed post-quantum Falcon digital signatures for smart transactions and state proofs (cryptographic attestations of blockchain state for cross-chain integrations). Algorand has also made Falcon signature verification available as a TEAL primitive to enable development of quantum-safe smart contracts for AVM. These PQC technologies are now publicly available: Algorand executed its first PQC-secured transaction in 2025. Moreover, Algorand enables users to change the private keys associated with their accounts. While this mechanism does not provide full quantum security at present, it facilitates future PQC migration.
Read the full whitepaper, and learn more about Algorand's post-quantum transactions using Falcon signatures.