# 10 years of post-quantum digital asset security

> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](/llms.txt). This markdown page mirrors [the canonical HTML page](/blog/10-years-of-postquantum-digital-asset-security/).



From the first code in 2016 to a mainnet built on XMSS and the development of QRL 2.0, a decade of QRL has been guided by one commitment: digital assets should remain secure as computing advances. We look back at the foundations and ahead to post-quantum smart contracts, proof of stake, and the next generation of builders.

Published: 2026-10-16
Updated: 2026-10-16



Author: The QRL Core Contributors



Categories: events












Ten years building the foundation Ten years ago today, October 16, 2016, the first public commit of the Quantum Resistant Ledger appeared, along with the question that motivated it: what happens to digital ownership when quantum computers arrive?
The signatures securing Bitcoin and every chain modeled on them would not survive that day. The conviction behind that first commit was that digital ownership should remain secure as computing advances. Ten years on, that work has become a foundation, and the next chapter opens it to more builders than ever.
From an idea to a working network The idea was unusual in 2016 and remains rare today: a public blockchain secured by post-quantum signatures from its first block. Turning it into working software took a year and a half of public testnet, a security audit by Red4Sec, and a mainnet that launched on June 26, 2018, with a message embedded in its genesis block: “the sleeper must awaken.” A second audit, by x41 D-Sec, followed the next year.
The network was equipped at launch, with even more capabilities added over the years. Wallets across desktop and mobile. Multisig. Ledger hardware support. A block explorer, Docker tooling, offline key generation. Each addition further proving that post-quantum security doesn’t have to come at the cost of usability.
The network never stopped. It has run continuously since genesis with no downtime. A decade of maintenance is invisible when it works, and it is the experience a project needs before it can promise a second generation.
What that foundation makes possible next A developer can sit down today, write a contract in a language derived from Solidity, and deploy it to the QRL 2.0 testnet through a browser wallet that behaves like the one they already use.
The workflow is familiar. What lies beneath it is not: the account signing the transaction is secured by post-quantum cryptography, the chain runs proof of stake, and what is built there will remain verifiably owned in a world with quantum computers.
Developers need not start over. Contracts, tooling, and patterns built on Ethereum-style chains transfer, because QRL 2.0 runs an EVM-friendly layer. Communities gain programmable ways to coordinate around shared assets, rules, and applications: tokens with enforceable rules, votes that cannot be forged, treasuries, collective ownership. On most chains, those promises rest on cryptography that will not survive the quantum era. On post-quantum rails, they hold. Validators take over the watch miners have kept for a decade. Proof of stake replaces proof of work: securing the network becomes something a holder with a connected machine can do, staking QRL to validate blocks. None of it matters without the people who run it, which has always been the story of this project.
The next chapter belongs to more people Foundations are built by people. This one was laid by node operators who kept the network honest, miners who powered proof of work through every market season, researchers, developers, documentation writers, and the community members who answered questions at every hour. If you were among them, you know what a decade of steady work looks like.
For miners, the transition is a change of watch rather than an ending. Proof of stake needs a new cohort of validators, and few are better prepared than the people who secured this network through its first ten years.
For holders, the move to QRL 2.0 is being prepared with care, and guidance will come only through official channels, because migrations attract impostors. Follow the project’s announcements, and our recently updated roadmap.
For builders, there is meaningful work waiting: run a testnet node, build an app, or help the next person get started. The community that laid this groundwork will shape what grows from it.
Ten years of QRL, and the future is just beginning.