XRP Ledger Draft Proposes Quantum-Resistant Signatures Without Fee Changes

The XRP Ledger Foundation’s Nov. 4 roadmap places research on account migration for the first half of 2027, followed by development, review and audit work in late 2027 or 2028. The schedule does not give an activation date for the proposed change, which would need validator approval.

The draft would add ML-DSA-44, a post-quantum signature scheme standardized by the National Institute of Standards and Technology in FIPS 204, to XRP Ledger signing. It covers account transactions as well as signatures used by validators and publishers. The specification was opened July 8, 2025, and last updated May 20, 2026.

The scheme’s public key is 1,312 bytes, and a signature can be as large as 2,420 bytes. The Foundation’s estimate puts storage at 5,331 bytes for a protected use, compared with 1,704 bytes for an ordinary payment.

Current accounts would not switch over on their own. Users seeking post-quantum protection would need to replace their regular signing key with one derived from Dilithium or transfer their funds to a newly derived account.

The proposal does not adjust the XRP Ledger fee schedule. It leaves fee and reserve levels to operators using the network’s standard fee-voting mechanisms.

The roadmap estimates 640 development hours and a budget of $215,000 to $255,000, with the development hours excluded from that amount. The estimate includes 400 hours for Ripple review, along with an audit, a reference implementation and work on Ledger hardware wallets and community wallets.

“Nothing here is promised. An amendment activates only if the validators vote it in,” the XRP Ledger Foundation wrote in the roadmap. The draft therefore remains a proposal rather than an active network feature.

Ripple separately set a 2028 target for a full post-quantum transition in April 2026. That company target is distinct from the Foundation’s research schedule. The next step in the Foundation’s roadmap is the migration study planned for the first half of 2027.