The Arc blockchain announced a strategy to transition to post-quantum cryptography, aiming to protect wallets, infrastructure, and validators without requiring an urgent user migration.
The Arc team revealed a roadmap for implementing quantum-resistant technologies designed to safeguard digital assets in light of the potential emergence of quantum computers as early as 2030. The solution spans all layers of the blockchain ecosystem, from transaction signatures to infrastructure and private data.
Arc is an open L1 blockchain developed by Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin. The project is focused on stablecoin operations and institutional financial services. The network uses USDC to pay transaction fees, offers sub-second transaction finality, and is EVM-compatible for running smart contracts. It’s part of the broader Circle ecosystem and is directly integrated with its products and infrastructure, including wallets, payment solutions, and cross-chain protocols.
Arc is an open L1 blockchain developed by Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin. The project is focused on stablecoin operations and institutional financial services. The network uses USDC to pay transaction fees, offeThe announcement notes that the risk of breaking current cryptographic algorithms arises even before the so-called “Q-Day,” the point at which quantum computers can effectively attack existing encryption systems. The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) warns of a scenario where attackers are already collecting encrypted data today to decrypt it in the future. For blockchain projects, this creates risks for wallet security, transactions, and authentication mechanisms.
Arc proposes a phased approach to address the issue. At mainnet launch, the platform will introduce support for post-quantum digital signatures, enabling the creation of secure wallets without requiring urgent upgrades later. The transition will remain voluntary, with no forced migration or network restart.
In the short term, the team will focus on protecting sensitive data such as balances, transactions, and recipient addresses. This will include additional symmetric encryption and avoiding the storage of sensitive information in plaintext. In the mid-term, the infrastructure will be upgraded, including access control systems, cloud environments, and cryptographic modules. TLS 1.3 protocols already support post-quantum algorithms, and major providers began implementing them.
The long-term phase involves strengthening validator security. In Arc’s current architecture, block finalization takes less than one second, and the potential attack window is estimated at around 500 milliseconds, making successful signature forgery very unlikely even with quantum computing capabilities. However, due to the larger size of post-quantum signatures and increased computational load, updates will be rolled out gradually after testing.
The company emphasizes that timely adoption of post-quantum security is becoming critical for banks, FinTech companies, and digital asset issuers, as the lifespan of such assets may exceed the durability of current cryptographic standards.
Analysts suggest that cryptographically relevant quantum computers (CRQC) could emerge by 2030. Against this backdrop, the Ethereum Foundation declared post-quantum security a strategic priority for the next decade, forming a dedicated team to gradually implement quantum-resistant solutions across its infrastructure.rs sub-second transaction finality, and is EVM-compatible for running smart contracts. It’s part of the broader Circle ecosystem and is directly integrated with its products and infrastructure, including wallets, payment solutions, and cross-chain protocols.
