Bitcoin and Ethereum Accelerate Quantum-Resistant Upgrades, US Invests $300 Million in Quantum Hardware
According to CoinDesk, the U.S. Department of Commerce is allocating up to $100 million each to three quantum computing companies—Rigetti, D-Wave, and Quantinuum—through the CHIPS Act, totaling up to $300 million. The funding will support the expansion of hardware, manufacturing, and error-correction systems, alongside the simultaneous acquisition of minority stakes in all three firms.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin and Ethereum developers are accelerating post-quantum cryptography upgrade initiatives. The Ethereum Foundation has set December 2029 as the deadline for foundational-layer quantum-resistant upgrades encompassing the execution, consensus, and data layers. While Bitcoin has no unified timeline, two proposals—BIP-360 (post-quantum output types) and BIP-361 (phasing out ECDSA and Schnorr signatures)—are advancing rapidly, with researchers likewise identifying 2029 as the critical window to complete a trusted migration path.
