Ethlabs drops Hegotá slot proposal in push for 2027 quantum readiness

Ethereum research group Ethlabs said Wednesday it will withdraw its proposal to speed up the network’s block production from the planned Hegotá upgrade, urging core developers to prepare the network for quantum attacks by 2027.

On Wednesday, the group outlined “pqai27,” a proposed roadmap that aims to protect Ethereum against threats from quantum computing and increasingly capable artificial intelligence. It said unrelated upgrades should be reconsidered.

Ethlabs previously backed Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP)-8198, known as Quick Slots, which would initially cut Ethereum’s slot time from 12 seconds to 10 seconds. The group said it would redirect resources to pqai27 but will still pursue faster slots in 2028. 

For Hegotá, Ethlabs said FOCIL, a planned censorship-resistance feature, should proceed only if it does not jeopardize quantum readiness. The group called Frame Transactions, which would enable more flexible account authentication, central to the proposed transition.

It said Glamsterdam, the upgrade before Hegotá, should proceed as planned.

Ethereum core developers have not approved the proposal. The Ethereum Foundation’s published roadmap still targets December 2029 for quantum resistance. At Devcon, researcher Justin Drake said he hopes to complete the transition in 2028.

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