Ripple and Algorand progress on quantum security, full XRPL audit underway

Algorand advances but faces consensus challenges

Algorand introduced Falcon-based post-quantum signatures in State Proofs starting in 2022, enhancing security for historical ledger confirmations. In August 2026, the network activated native Falcon-based post-quantum accounts on its mainnet, providing users with an additional layer of protection for account operations.

Despite these steps, the Algorand network retains some reliance on cryptographic components that are not yet quantum-resistant. Its Verifiable Random Function, a crucial part of the consensus committee selection, currently uses elliptic-curve cryptography. Additionally, consensus messaging relies on Ed25519 signatures, which could be compromised by a sufficiently powerful quantum computer.

Algorand has announced plans to research a post-quantum Verifiable Random Function in early 2027 and aims to achieve comprehensive quantum resilience across the network by the end of that year, signaling that its journey to full security is ongoing. Therefore, claims about complete quantum-readiness remain premature.

Algorand leads in deploying quantum-secure accounts, but its consensus infrastructure remains a work in progress, while Ripple and XRPL are focused on a wider spectrum of system-wide updates and testing.

Ripple’s roadmap and system-wide evaluation

Ripple has partnered with Project Eleven to conduct a thorough assessment of the XRPL ecosystem, including validators, custody solutions, wallets, and the underlying network architecture. Ripple’s roadmap targets full post-quantum security by 2028 but encompasses more than just wallet signatures. The company is actively testing hybrid post-quantum signing, evaluating validator performance, workload capabilities on Devnet, and a prototype for quantum-secure custody.

These tests account for the impact of larger signature sizes, additional storage requirements, and throughput effects. The evaluation is expected to precede any proposal for native amendments that would upgrade the blockchain’s core protocols.

Project Eleven reported the collaboration will involve a comprehensive audit of all relevant XRPL layers and the production of working code with real-world performance benchmarks. Previous research by Project Eleven had already been detailed in Coinpaper.

A noteworthy advantage for XRPL users is the native key rotation feature, allowing holders to change their signing keys without moving assets to a new account. Ripple maintains that this could make the eventual migration to upgraded cryptographic standards more straightforward compared to networks that require manual asset transfers for such changes.

In line with technical monitoring, analysts previously found roughly 300,000 XRPL accounts holding nearly 2.4 billion XRP had not yet revealed their public keys, a factor that could lower quantum-related risks for these accounts in the future.

Post-quantum readiness remains gradual

Both Algorand and Ripple are taking incremental steps toward achieving full quantum resistance. While Algorand currently offers quantum-secure accounts and continues to update its consensus process, Ripple is coordinating full-stack testing before deployment. The nuanced nature of these upgrades underlines that “quantum-ready” is not defined by a single milestone but rather by progress on wallet technology, consensus signatures, custody infrastructure, and the cryptographic primitives underlying each step.

Industry-wide, the approach to digital asset custody and ownership is evolving in parallel. While many legacy markets depend on complex broker systems, Wall Street has started turning its attention toward Web3. Increasingly, investors are managing shares of leading U.S. companies, gold, and silver directly through crypto wallets with platforms such as 1stepSwap. These solutions tokenize real-world assets and execute trades at the best market prices in seconds, removing intermediaries from the process and simplifying access for users.

XRP traded near $1.43 on Thursday, reflecting a daily drop of about 1% to 2% and marking a decline of over 50% compared to the same period last year.