Methodology

PQBeat evaluates the post-quantum preparedness of the Ethereum ecosystem. Evaluations are based on deployed, verifiable on-chain capabilities.

Core Principles

Deployed Code

All evaluations based on deployed, verifiable on-chain state. Code must be audited and usable in production.

Verifiable State

Stages reflect current deployment status. Future plans are tracked separately in the Roadmap section.

Conservative Rating

When in doubt, the lower stage applies. Better to underestimate than create false confidence.

Continuous Updates

Re-evaluated as deployments occur. Community contributions welcome via GitHub.

L1/L2 Chain Stages

Stage	Criteria	Technical Requirements
Stage 0	No PQ capability deployed	ECDSA only
Stage 1	PQ accounts usable in production	ERC-4337 / EIP-7702 + PQ sig verification (smart contract)
Stage 2	Native PQ accounts in production	EIP-7701 + precompiles (ML-DSA/Falcon/XMSS/...)
Stage 3	Migration path operational	ZK-recovery + freeze mechanism
Stage 4	Post-Quantum Consensus Layer	Previous + BLS replaced by PQ aggregatable signatures

Wallet Stages

Wallets inherit the stage of the highest-stage chain they support with PQ smart accounts.

Stage 0

No PQ support

Stage 1

PQ smart account supported on a Stage 1 chain

Stage 2

PQ smart account on Stage 2 chain + BIP32/39 compliant PQ key derivation

Important: A wallet's stage cannot exceed the stage of the chain it operates on.

Protocol Stages

Stage 0

No smart wallet support

EOA-gated via tx.origin checks, or ECDSA-only signers

Stage 1

Accepts 4337/7702 wallets

No EOA restrictions, ERC-1271 support

Stage 2

Governance PQ or immutable

Governance uses PQ accounts, OR protocol has no admin keys

Important: A protocol's stage cannot exceed the stage of the chain it is deployed on.

Evaluation Criteria

L1/L2 Chains

PQ Signature Verifier: Smart contract or precompile for ML-DSA, Falcon, XMSS, or SPHINCS+
EIP-7701 Support: Native account abstraction with PQ signature support
Precompiles Deployed: EIP-8051 (ML-DSA) and/or EIP-8052 (Falcon) active
ZK-Recovery: Circuit deployed for seed-based account recovery post-freeze
Freeze Mechanism: Governance-activated freeze of legacy ECDSA EOAs
PQ Consensus: Validator signatures use post-quantum scheme

Wallets

PQ Key Generation: Can derive PQ keypairs (ML-DSA, Falcon, etc.)
PQ Smart Account: Can deploy and manage PQ-secured smart accounts
PQ Signing: Can sign transactions with PQ signatures
BIP32/39 PQ Derivation: Stage 2+ requirement
Recovery Witness: Can generate witness for ZK-recovery (Stage 3+)

Protocols

No 4337 Gates: No tx.origin == msg.sender restrictions (blocks bundler-based 4337)
No 7702 Gates: No extcodesize() == 0 checks (e.g. permit() on some ERC-20s fails for 7702 accounts)
ERC-1271 Support: Accepts smart contract signatures where required
Smart Wallet Tested: Confirmed working with 4337/7702 wallets
Governance PQ: Admin/governance keys are PQ-secured
Immutable: No upgrade mechanism (automatic Stage 2 for governance)