SVM-compatible PQ signature scheme #3#: Hawk512 – for when you want to trade compute for additional instruction data. 555 byte signatures. Verification costs just ~350k CUs with ~18kb storage, or ~750k CUs with ~1kb storage.

Why did the report evaluate ML-DSA-44 specifically? The biggest reason is practicality. Compared to higher-security parameter sets like ML-DSA-65 and ML-DSA-87, ML-DSA-44 offers: • Smaller signatures • Faster verification • Lower network overhead That matters because signature size quickly becomes the dominant scaling constraint in post-quantum systems. In testing, PQ blocks were already ~18× larger than non-PQ blocks at equivalent TPS. Read the report 👇

【2026.5.15】The difference between the implied volatility of 1-month 25-delta put and call options on US tech stocks (i.e., option skewness) has decreased significantly (bottom right of the chart). While a decrease in option skewness is generally a positive sign, it is currently near historical lows, indicating excessive optimism and an underestimation of risk. Any extreme extreme in anything is a sign of a reversal, and option skewness nearing historical lows often foreshadows potential increases in short-term market volatility. Once external factors cause disruptions that fail to further drive market expectations, extreme optimism can turn into extreme disappointment. Therefore, when option skewness is at historical lows, leverage should be appropriately reduced and hedging protection increased. Similar to the VIX, extremely low volatility itself may only be noteworthy, but if several fatal combinations occur simultaneously (e.g., low volatility + high valuation + pessimistic options market + tightening PQ liquidity), especially in the RXM/SPX range... As previously discussed, this reflects the true risk appetite of market participants, meaning that option pricing is currently extremely cautious (low ratio). Meanwhile, market valuations are high, and volatility remains low (VIX remains low). Liquidity is tightening (PQ) (see the chart below for several dimensions).

BITCOIN RAILS #59#: Post-Quantum Bitcoin Signatures (+ their tradeoffs) | with BIP 360 co-author @Ethan_Heilman and @Blockstream Head of Research @n1ckler 🔗 YOUTUBE: 🌿 SPOTIFY: According to BIP 360 co-author Ethan Heilman, Bitcoin needs a minimum of two soft forks to become quantum resistant: P2MR (or an output type that can safely execute PQ signatures) + a post-quantum checksig (signature scheme). Ethan and the BIP 360 team (including myself and @cryptoquick) introduced the P2MR part via a BIP 360 update late last year—but the question remains, what’s the most appropriate PQ signature scheme for Bitcoin? They all have substantive tradeoffs, but hash-based signatures seem to be leading technical discourse—likely due to recent optimizations by @n1ckler and the broader @Blockstream research team. It was an honor to sit down with both of these men - arguably the two most influential and productive cryptographers in Bitcoin quantum mitigation right now - for an in-depth review of the leading PQ signature schemes and a temperature check on Bitcoin’s post-quantum planning process. TBH, if you want to skip the noise and jump straight to the signal on quantum, this is the interview to watch. In this episode, we discuss: - What needs to happen at the soft fork, infra, and mitigation levels to fully quantum-harden Bitcoin - Recent updates to BIP 360 + breakdown of the leading hash-based signatures schemes for Bitcoin (SHRINCS + SHRIMPS) - Why we may actually get consensus around a stateful scheme for Bitcoin - Comparisons of hash-based signatures vs Lattice and Isogeny-based schemes - Assessing the risks of both waiting too long and acting too fast (and why quantum is a better threat to be facing than a potential classical attack) This episode of Bitcoin Rails is brought to you by my NEW sponsors: - LayerTwo Labs @LayerTwoLabs — developing research, software, and technologies for scaling Bitcoin via the integration of Drivechains (BIP 300/301) - Hashi on @SuiNetwork — a primitive for executing Bitcoin Defi transactions, without having to trust a federated bridge or other centralized entity - BitBox @BitBoxSwiss — an open-source Bitcoin-only hardware wallet, with smooth UX and no compromises on security. Check out Bitbox [dot] swiss and use code BITCOINRAILS to get a discount TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Intro 02:18 Ethan’s Quantum Wakeup 05:18 How Blockstream Enters Post Quantum 09:25 BIP 360 Explained 12:11 How Bitcoin Transitions to PQ 17:35 Choosing Post Quantum Signatures 23:20 How Blockstream Created SHRINCS 27:22 Signature Budgets Importance Explained 41:13 What are SHRIMPS? 44:51 SHRIMPS vs SHRINCS 47:48 Why SLH-DSA Alone Won’t Cut It 49:24 Is a SHRIMPS + SHRINCS BIP Coming? 51:51 Blockstream’s Big Plans for Liquid 59:04 Quantum Readiness Roadmap 01:02:22 Importance of a PQ Recovery Plan 01:05:35 How Long Would a PQ Migration Take 01:11:17 Quantum Watchlist Recommendations

lowercase snarks Words like laser, scuba, radar began uppercase. LASER — Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation SCUBA — Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus RADAR — RAdio Detection And Ranging When a technology matures and becomes reliable, trusted, commoditised, it earns the lowercase. Lean Ethereum is a bet on snarks, not Succinct Non-interactive ARguments of Knowledge. Post-quantum security. Provable soundness. End-to-end formal verification. Deep cryptanalysis. Real-time proving. zkVM programmability. Simplicity and elegance. All essential for the lowercase. All inevitable. Ethereum L1 has 10y uptime and $1T secured with hashes and signatures, our cryptographic workhorses. I believe in 100y uptime and $1Q secured with snarks, our cryptographic jet engines. * L1 scale — 10K TPS gigagas scale with real-time zkEVMs * L1 security — post-quantum security with snarked signatures * L1 privacy — Zcash-grade stealth with wormholes (eg EIP-7503) Shipping snarks is a cryptographic Manhattan Project, one the EF is investing tens of millions into: * verified-zkevm[.]org — formal verification * poseidon-initiative[.]info — deep cryptanalysis * ethproofs[.]org — real-time proving * proximityprize[.]org — provable soundness * zkevm.ethereum[.]foundation — enshrinement * pse[.]dev — privacy Step by step, the EF is evolving into a snark-first org: * cryptography team — driving soundness and cryptanalysis * snarkification team — driving formal verification * zkEVM team — driving protocol integration * Ethproofs team — driving real-time proving * PSE team — driving privacy * PQ consensus team — soon™ Believe in something magical. Believe in lowercase snarks.