OP Labs officially announces the Superchain post-quantum security roadmap, declaring that external accounts (EOA) based on ECDSA will be phased out by January 2036. All users are required to migrate to quantum-resistant smart contract wallets via EIP-7702. This 10-year plan marks a significant forward-looking deployment in the security architecture of the Layer 2 ecosystem. This article is sourced from an OP Labs publication and translated by Dongqu Dongqu.

(Background: V God predicts “disappearance of crypto wallets”: Quantum computing will eventually crack external accounts EOA)

(Additional context: Exploring the EIP-7702 proposal: Vitalik’s ultimate solution to account abstraction challenges)

Table of Contents

• Official Announcement: 10-Year ECDSA EOA Deprecation Schedule
• User Wallets: Migration to Post-Quantum Smart Accounts
• Consensus Layer: Upgrading the Sequencer and Ethereum Itself
• Implementation Approach: Hard Fork, Not Heroism
• Building a Quantum-Resilient Superchain

Although large-scale quantum computers are not yet available, once they emerge and we are unprepared, the core cryptography of Ethereum and the Superchain will face serious threats. Signatures and commitments are the foundation of the entire system—if these are compromised, everything built upon them will be at risk.

The good news is that the OP Stack architecture already has the capability to replace signature schemes via hard forks. Once the correct post-quantum (PQ) scheme is selected, upgrades will be a matter of coordination rather than a complete system redesign.

Official Announcement: 10-Year ECDSA EOA Deprecation Schedule

Since this announcement, OP Labs has officially committed to phasing out ECDSA-based external accounts (EOA) on the OP Mainnet and the entire Superchain within 10 years, subject to governance approval.

Specifically, before January 2036:

• ECDSA-signed EOA transactions will be deprecated
• Each ECDSA EOA must delegate its key management to a post-quantum smart contract account

OP Labs is announcing this early because security migration takes time. Wallets, applications, infrastructure providers, and OP Stack chains all need clear timelines.

User Wallets: Migration to Post-Quantum Smart Accounts

User migration will be achieved through account abstraction (Account Abstraction, AA).

Thanks to OP Stack’s support for EIP-7702, EOAs can now delegate permissions to smart contract accounts. This allows the system to upgrade key management mechanisms without forcing users to abandon their existing addresses or balances.

The roadmap for the next decade is as follows:

• Migrate smart wallets via EIP-7702 or future AA standards: EOA gradually delegates signing authority to smart contract accounts verified with post-quantum signatures (rather than ECDSA)
• Protocol-level enforcement: After the 10-year deadline, OP Stack chains are expected to deprecate transactions signed with original ECDSA EOAs; user transactions should be conducted through post-quantum-aware smart accounts
• Pluggable post-quantum schemes: The specific post-quantum signature scheme has not yet been decided; it remains uncertain whether NIST-standardized lattice-based signatures are the best long-term choice for Ethereum and the Superchain

Users currently do not need to take any action. This announcement aims to set expectations and timelines. As deployment progresses, OP Labs will provide tools, guidelines, and secure migration paths for wallets and applications on the Superchain.

Consensus Layer: Upgrading the Sequencer and Ethereum Itself

User wallets are only part of the story. To achieve true post-quantum resilience, the infrastructure layer must also be upgraded.

On the OP Stack side:

• L2 sequencers and batch submitters will transition from ECDSA signatures to post-quantum signatures
• The OP Stack chain will follow a shared roadmap to ensure consistent upgrades across the entire Superchain

On Ethereum:

Currently, Ethereum heavily relies on BLS signatures (for validators) and KZG commitments (for data availability and blobs). In the long term, OP Labs believes Ethereum should commit to a timeline to migrate validators from BLS signatures and KZG commitments to post-quantum algorithms.

OP Labs has communicated with Ethereum Foundation members on this topic and other efforts to make Ethereum—and thus the Superchain—post-quantum secure. The final choice of solutions and timelines will be decided by the community, but our position is clear: post-quantum security at the consensus layer is not optional.

Implementation Approach: Hard Fork, Not Heroism

The OP Stack is designed to closely follow Ethereum, which benefits this effort.

Once the ecosystem reaches consensus on the preferred post-quantum signature scheme (or combination), the plan is:

• Develop upgrade specifications for OP Stack chains, including wallet modes, sequencer keys, and on-chain verification rules
• Coordinate hard forks between the OP Mainnet and participating OP Stack chains
• During the migration, support both ECDSA and post-quantum paths, then transition to the standard post-quantum-aware smart account model at the end of the 10-year period

There will be no sudden disruptions or rushed timelines; the ecosystem will have ample time to adapt.

Building a Quantum-Resilient Superchain

Post-quantum security is not just a bonus but a part of long-term thinking.

By announcing this 10-year plan to deprecate ECDSA EOAs, committing to migrate sequencer infrastructure, and aligning validator-level changes with Ethereum, OP Labs clearly states: the Superchain will be prepared for the post-quantum era.

Developers building wallets, infrastructure, or applications on the OP Stack should stay tuned to the OP Labs blog and OP Stack documentation. As post-quantum signature schemes become clearer, specific migration paths, timelines, and implementation guidelines will be released.