Regulators are putting more weight behind a long-running concern in crypto: that quantum computers could one day undermine the cryptography that secures blockchains. @Algorand says its defens
Regulators are putting more weight behind a long-running concern in crypto: that quantum computers could one day undermine the cryptography that secures blockchains. @Algorand says its defenses are already running on mainnet, though one major component remains unfinished.
The European Supervisory Authorities, which bring together the European Banking Authority, the European Securities and Markets Authority and the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority, flagged the issue in their Autumn 2026 risk update. According to CoinDesk, the authorities said an advanced quantum computer could undermine the cryptography used to secure blockchains, and that the threat could emerge before the technology has a viable commercial application.
The European Commission has also urged member states to begin post-quantum transitions by the end of 2026, CoinDesk reported. The original post also points to a US government audit last week that found federal agencies unprepared. That audit could not be independently verified for this draft.
Algorand says it has been working on the problem for several years. Per the project's own documentation, it introduced State Proofs in 2022, and these are signed using Falcon, a post-quantum digital signature scheme selected by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
The project has since extended protection to user accounts. The same page says native Falcon-1024 accounts went live on mainnet in August 2026 after the Algorand v5.0.0 upgrade reached the required network approval threshold. Blockchain Reporter noted that previously, similar protection required custom logic attached to an account.
Algorand also recorded its first quantum-resilient mainnet transaction in 2025, according to the same report.
The last major piece is consensus. Algorand's voting keys still rely on classical cryptography, according to the original post, which says the project targets full quantum resilience by the end of 2027. The Algorand Foundation has cautioned that other protocol components are still migrating and has not claimed the system is fully future-proof, as Blockchain Reporter reported.
For $ALGO holders and developers, the practical takeaway is that protection now covers chain history and, for users who opt in, individual accounts. The block-production layer is the part still to be addressed. No reported quantum attack has so far derived a Bitcoin private key from its public key, so the warnings remain about future risk rather than a present threat.
Algorand: Post-Quantum Technology
Blockchain Reporter: Algorand v5 adds quantum-resilient accounts on mainnet
