Ethlabs Prioritizes Ethereum Quantum Security Over Faster Blocks

By Tom Whitfield

Ethlabs proposed in a Nov. 11 Ethereum Magicians post that Ethereum developers prioritize a 2027 “pqai-ready” target for post-quantum and post-AI defenses, saying it would withdraw a faster-block plan from Hegotá. Named “pqai27,” the proposal asked core developers to reconsider any Hegotá feature outside that goal’s critical path, including features already scheduled.

Ethlabs is an independent nonprofit Ethereum research lab whose team includes Quick Slots co-author Barnabé Monnot. The lab still supports faster slots and will work toward them in 2028, according to the post.

The proposal has not changed an agreed network schedule. Hegotá’s published scope still lists Quick Slots as “Considered for Inclusion,” while Frames and FOCIL are “Scheduled for Inclusion.”

What changes if faster blocks slip?

The Quick Slots proposal, EIP-8198, would make Ethereum’s block-production intervals easier to change and initially shorten them from 12 seconds to 10 seconds. Ethlabs said it still supports faster slots and will work toward them in 2028 instead.

The delay would defer a change intended to reduce transaction waits and improve trading. In Ethlabs’ September survey, DefiLlama founder 0xngmi said quicker slots would let swap users set tighter slippage limits because prices would change less between blocks.

What does “pqai-ready” mean?

Ethlabs distinguishes “pqai-ready” from “pqai-scaled.” Its 2027 readiness target covers post-quantum consensus and a quantum-resistant route for every user’s account. If today’s cryptography breaks, the lab argues, Ethereum could switch over and continue at reduced capacity.

Running quantum-resistant transactions and data blobs at full capacity is a stretch goal for 2027. Ethlabs defines “post-AI” as cryptography designed to withstand potential cryptanalytic breakthroughs plus hardened software clients built to resist AI-assisted bug discovery. The lab presented proposed defenses, not evidence that AI has broken Ethereum’s cryptography.

Ethlabs’ target precedes Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake’s December 2028 goal for a “full post-quantum and post-AI transition,” previously reported by The Defiant. The Foundation’s post-quantum team gives a different benchmark on a page last updated June 27, 2026: L1 protocol upgrades could finish by 2029, with full execution-layer migration taking additional years.

Which Hegotá features could move?

Ethlabs would retain Frames, which lets account code define transaction authorization and provides a route to post-quantum signatures. The lab wants developers to reconsider FOCIL’s timing if the censorship-resistance feature jeopardizes the 2027 goal. FOCIL lets validator committees require transaction inclusion.

Without FOCIL, Ethlabs argues account changes could ship separately from the validator-consensus upgrade rather than waiting for it. The unresolved design choice is whether to adapt Ethereum’s existing Gasper consensus or switch directly to a new, decoupled design. Wallet support, user migrations and validator migrations also require work outside the hardfork schedule.

Can Ethereum credibly commit to 2027?

Developer Potuz, whose Nov. 9 analysis Ethlabs cited, argued that a credible commitment requires a public specification, dedicated client-team engineers and a shared test network. “No one can promise today that Ethereum will ship a particular design on a particular date,” he wrote.

The pqai27 post requests developer reconsideration rather than recording approval. Until developers revise the scope, Hegotá’s published plan still schedules Frames and FOCIL for inclusion and leaves Quick Slots at the considered stage.

Potuz’s standard makes the next checkpoint concrete: a public specification, dedicated client-team engineers and a shared test network. Without those steps, 2027 remains a readiness goal rather than a guaranteed upgrade date.