How QNTM Is Built
Quantum-resistant from the first transaction ever recorded. Not a migration plan.
From the First Block
The critical distinction between QNTM and every other blockchain is temporal. QNTM does not plan to add post-quantum cryptography. It does not have a migration roadmap.
ML-DSA is the signature algorithm for every key in the system from block zero. There is no historical ECDSA data to protect. There are no exposed public keys. The vulnerability that threatens Bitcoin and Ethereum simply does not exist in QNTM's design space.
This is not a feature added later. It is the foundation.
The Algorithm Stack
ML-DSA -- NIST FIPS 204
Handles validator keys — the keys that sign blocks and participate in consensus. This is where the highest-value keys live. ML-DSA provides the strongest security argument for long-lived keys. A validator key may be in use for years; the security margin has to match that lifetime.
FN-DSA -- NIST FIPS 206
Handles transaction signatures. Transactions happen constantly and signature size affects throughput. FN-DSA's signatures (~666 bytes) are significantly smaller than ML-DSA's (~3,293 bytes) while still being fully quantum-resistant. The right algorithm for the right job.
ML-KEM -- NIST FIPS 203
Secures node-to-node communication. Every connection between validators and full nodes uses ML-KEM for key exchange. This protects the network's traffic, not just transactions, from harvest-now-decrypt-later attacks.
EVM Compatibility: What It Actually Means
EVM stands for Ethereum Virtual Machine, the runtime environment that executes smart contracts. QNTM runs a full EVM implementation.
This means every Solidity contract ever written deploys to QNTM without modification. Every developer tool (Hardhat, Foundry, Remix, ethers.js, web3.js) works against the QNTM network unchanged.
Ten years of Ethereum ecosystem development (tooling, libraries, auditing frameworks) is immediately available on a quantum-safe network. The EVM is quantum-safe on QNTM because the underlying key infrastructure is. The contract code itself is unaffected.
Same Solidity
Any contract that runs on Ethereum runs on QNTM. No rewrites.
Same Tooling
Hardhat, Foundry, Remix, Truffle. All work unchanged.
PQC Precompiles
New: call ML-DSA and ML-KEM from Solidity via precompiles at 0x100 and 0x101.
Performance
Post-quantum signatures are larger, but QNTM's architecture is designed to absorb that cost. The numbers below are from the live testnet.
| Metric | QNTM Testnet | Ethereum L1 | Bitcoin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transactions per second | 4,200+ | ~15 | ~7 |
| Block time | 3-5 seconds | ~12 seconds | ~10 minutes |
| Finality | Single-slot | ~13 minutes | ~60 minutes |
| Signature scheme | ML-DSA + FN-DSA | ECDSA | ECDSA |
| Quantum safe | Yes | No | No |
"QNTM is the only network where the phrase 'migrate to post-quantum later' is not in the roadmap. It never needed to be."