Overview
- Sui announced it will support ML‑DSA‑65 for native accounts and SLH‑DSA‑SHA2‑128s for smart‑contract vaults, using two different cryptographic families so a flaw in one does not break the other.
- The network built and benchmarked the core implementation and plans a phased, opt‑in rollout that starts with vaults on mainnet later in 2026, moves ML‑DSA‑65 to Testnet by the end of 2026, and targets native account authentication on mainnet in Q1 2027 pending audits and Testnet feedback.
- Users keep their existing recovery phrases and addresses because quantum‑safe private keys are derived from the same seed with new derivation paths and address aliases let accounts update authorization keys without transferring assets.
- Sui chose the higher ML‑DSA‑65 security level after a July 2026 AI finding weakened the HAWK candidate, and it says verification cost will be similar to current signatures even though post‑quantum signatures and public keys are much larger.
- The move responds to research warning of 'harvest‑now‑forge‑later' risks from archived public keys and follows growing industry steps toward quantum readiness by exchanges, custody providers and other blockchains, with independent audits and wallet/SDK updates now the key milestones to watch.