Project Eleven and Quantus plan post-quantum custody support for Q1 2027

Project Eleven and Quantus plan to connect the Quantus blockchain to Project Eleven's institutional custody platform, with support targeted for the first quarter of 2027, the companies told CoinDesk.

Quantus is described as a privacy-focused proof-of-work blockchain, and Project Eleven develops tools to protect crypto systems from future quantum-computing attacks.

The planned support would let institutions manage Quantus keys and approve transactions through hardware security modules, internal policies and audit systems, the companies said.

Alex Pruden, Project Eleven's co-founder and CEO, told CoinDesk via LinkedIn that the transition could prove an impediment to institutional adoption of cryptocurrency. "Institutions are already preparing the post-quantum transition outside of blockchains," he added.

Strongpoint, Project Eleven's custody platform, is designed to separate the institutional control layer from the signature scheme used by an underlying blockchain. A custodian could keep its approval process, hardware-based key storage and audit trail intact even if the chain adopts different cryptography, per CoinDesk. "Strongpoint isn't a replacement for protocol-level adoption of post-quantum cryptography," Pruden said. "But the decoupled architecture allows us to support protocols in an agile manner."

Christopher Smith, Quantus' co-founder and CEO, told CoinDesk that AI is "accelerating everything, including both quantum hardware and quantum software." He said the tail risk of a surprise quantum attack "needs to be factored into all portfolio decisions. It is a matter of fiduciary responsibility."

Bitcoin developers are debating how and when the network will prepare for quantum computing, and calls for holders to move into "bunker mode" have brought greater attention to individual wallets, CoinDesk reported. Ethereum researcher Justin Drake urged large holders to rotate to fresh addresses, CoinDesk reported, and no practical attack has been demonstrated. Researchers and companies increasingly treat the next few years as a window to prepare migration paths rather than wait for an attack, according to CoinDesk.

Quantus uses ML-DSA, which CoinDesk describes as a post-quantum signature standard, and the stated Q1 2027 target covers that network. A custodian listing several chains will track as many migration timetables as the blockchains it supports adopt.