Ripple plans four-phase push to make XRP Ledger quantum-safe

Ripple outlined a four-phase plan to make the XRP Ledger resistant to quantum attacks and to add native post-quantum cryptography through a formal protocol amendment by 2028. The company will begin emergency backup work and launch Project Eleven tests of new security tools in early 2026.

The first phase focuses on emergency preparedness. Ripple intends to deploy tools that let users move funds into post-quantum encryption if current cryptography is compromised. The planned tooling includes implementations based on zero-knowledge proofs meant to protect assets and privacy in environments where standard protections are weakened.

The second phase starts in early 2026 and centers on deeper study of quantum risks and testing of new security tools with Project Eleven. By the end of 2026, Ripple plans to trial advanced post-quantum security techniques and evaluate additional privacy-preserving approaches.

The later phases lead to a formal amendment to the ledger in 2028 that would add native post-quantum cryptography across the XRP Ledger, according to Ripple’s proposal.

Ripple referenced recent findings from Google Quantum AI that warned a sufficiently powerful quantum computer could break the public-key cryptography many blockchains use. Industry responses vary: some firms describe the risk as a manageable upgrade cycle while others are already planning or testing technical defenses.

The company highlighted the risk known as “harvest now, decrypt later,” where attackers collect encrypted data today and store it until future quantum hardware can decode it. Ripple framed its timeline as a response to that scenario.

An audit of the XRP Ledger’s validators found about 300,000 accounts holding roughly 2.4 billion XRP that have never made a transaction and therefore have not exposed public keys on the ledger. The same audit identified two larger dormant accounts with exposed public keys, together representing about 0.03% of the total XRP supply.

Ripple contrasted that exposure with other networks. The audit noted that roughly 32% of Bitcoin is held in addresses that have revealed key material, including about 1 million coins linked to Bitcoin’s creator. Ripple pointed to the XRP Ledger’s native key rotation feature, which allows users to update keys without moving funds to a new account. Some other networks, including Ethereum, do not have an equivalent built-in feature and would require manual transfers to achieve similar protection.

No quantum computer available today can break modern blockchain encryption. Ripple’s roadmap sets specific milestones aimed at reducing future exposure and maintaining user privacy as quantum hardware develops.