Ethlabs abandons Quick Slots Push to chase a post-quantum Ethereum by 2027

Ethlabs wants Ethereum to be quantum-proofed a year or two earlier than current plans.

On November 11, the nonprofit R&D lab, whose team includes several former Ethereum Foundation researchers, published a proposal called “pqai27”. He argues that Ethereum can become post-quantum, and likely “post-AI”, in 2027. To focus on this goal, the lab is withdrawing its own initiative aimed at achieving faster blocks in the next fork.

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• Why this rush: Ethlabs says AI is accelerating three threats at once: past quantum computing timelines, mathematical advances that could crack current cryptography, and large-scale bug finding. By “post-AI,” that means cryptography that relies on as few assumptions as possible, as well as clients that are hardened against AI bug hunters.

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• The plan: The Hegotá fork would make Ethereum “pqai ready,” with post-quantum consensus and a post-quantum option for each account. If current cryptography were to fail, then the network could continue to operate at reduced capacity. Full-capacity post-quantum transactions and blobs are an ambitious goal for 2027.

• What is cut: Ethlabs is launching Quick Slots, its own flagship proposal to reduce slot times from 12 to 10 seconds, and will instead aim for faster slots in 2028. It also says that FOCIL, Hegotá’s consensus headliner, should only be scheduled if 2027 remains feasible. Frame transactions remain.

• One more suggestion: Ethlabs’ Barnabé Monnot stressed that the plan is the laboratory’s point of view, not a ratified road map. The withdrawal of Quick Slots, however, is “an unconditional commitment”. Lead developers discussed the post-quantum emergency during Thursday’s consensus call, but did not change Hegotá’s scope.

• The skeptics: Toni Wahrstätter, researcher at EF called a much faster transition, “somewhere between ambitious and impossible”. Eli Ben-Sasson, CEO of StarkWare called the goal is worth it, but he doubted it would land by the end of 2027.

• Why it’s important: EF researchers had talked about completing the post-quantum transition by the end of 2028, and EF’s own pages still talk about 2029, so pqai27 is a real acceleration. Giving up two seconds of playing time for quantum earlier defense is an easy sell. It will be much harder to delay FOCIL, a censorship resistance upgrade. It’s also the first big test of whether a lab outside the EF can reset Ethereum’s priorities in public.