TLDR
- Ripple and Project Eleven are working on post-quantum security for the XRP Ledger.
- The project includes a system audit, hybrid signatures and a custody wallet prototype.
- Project Eleven said the work is aimed at real-world implementation, not research alone.
- XRPL version 3.1.3 has created discussion around node upgrades and amendment activation.
- David Schwartz said competing ledger streams would likely involve separate UNLs and code distributions.
Ripple and Project Eleven have announced a collaboration to prepare the XRP Ledger for future quantum computing risks. According to Project Eleven, the work will assess quantum-related weaknesses across the network and test security measures designed to be used before current cryptographic standards face a credible threat from advanced quantum machines.
The effort places the XRP Ledger among the public blockchain networks now moving from research to implementation planning in post-quantum cryptography.
Project Eleven said the engagement will cover the validator, custody, wallet and networking layers of the XRP Ledger. The company stated that the project includes a full audit of the system, the use of hybrid signatures that combine current methods with quantum-resistant cryptography, and a prototype custody wallet built with post-quantum protections. RippleX Head of Engineering J. Ayo Akinyele said the XRP Ledger already has features such as key rotation and validator coordination that may support future upgrades across the network.
Ripple and Project Eleven Outline XRPL Security Plan
Project Eleven described the collaboration as a practical engineering effort rather than a research-only exercise. Chief Executive Alex Pruden said most major blockchains face the same cryptographic exposure, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and XRP, but many projects remain at an early stage in addressing it. The company said the XRP Ledger work is intended to produce software, performance data and a route toward production use.
The announcement comes as governments and technology firms continue setting timelines for migration away from current encryption standards. Project Eleven referred to a 2035 deadline for U.S. federal systems to move from vulnerable cryptography and said companies such as Google and Cloudflare have set earlier internal targets. The timing gives blockchain developers several years to test alternatives, though the exact point at which quantum computers could break widely used cryptographic schemes remains uncertain.
Project Eleven, founded in 2024, said it has also developed tools such as the Bitcoin Risq List and Quantum Vault. The company added that its work with Ripple and the XRP Ledger Foundation is its largest engagement to date. In material accompanying the announcement, the XRP Ledger Foundation said the network’s account model and built-in key rotation may allow users and businesses to adopt new signature systems without changing public wallet addresses.
XRPL 3.1.3 Upgrade Adds Immediate Network Focus
The quantum security announcement arrived at a time when the XRP Ledger community is also discussing a nearer-term software update. In posts shared on May 18, XRPL community member Vet said version 3.1.3 had been available for more than a week and that about 40% of the network had updated at that stage. Vet said the related fix amendment would activate after nine days and that nodes remaining on older versions would no longer communicate with the upgraded network.
That update prompted debate over whether the change could result in a split network if a large share of nodes did not move to the new version in time. Ripple Chief Technology Officer David Schwartz responded in a series of posts, saying a simple “one node, one vote” model would not be suitable because anyone could create multiple nodes to influence the count. He said ledger production depends on validators choosing to continue under a given ruleset and on operators being willing to run validators for that version.
Schwartz also said the XRP Ledger has more events that are technically hard forks than many other public ledgers, partly because of the network’s architecture. He compared XRPL with Stellar, which has a similar design in some respects. His comments came after users asked how the main network would be identified if validators were divided between two sets of rules.
Validator Coordination Remains Central to Fork Questions
In follow-up posts on May 19, Schwartz said the size of a validator split does not by itself determine the preferred ledger stream. He wrote that each side would need enough validators to create a functional unique node list, or UNL, made up of validators that agree on a ledger stream under their chosen rules.
He added that, in theory, one validator could create a functional UNL, though a more realistic fork would need several operators willing to maintain it.
Really? I thought most exchanges ran their own XRPL nodes. I'm not sure who would know that. They definitely should. Imagine the mess if we were compromised by North Korea or something like that.
— David 'JoelKatz' Schwartz (@JoelKatz) May 18, 2026
Schwartz said two competing ledger streams would likely also produce two competing UNLs and two code distributions, with each software distribution defaulting to its own validator list and rules. When asked which chain would be viewed as XRP, he said he believed many exchanges should be running their own XRPL nodes rather than relying on outside endpoints. He added that dependence on shared infrastructure could create operational problems if those systems were ever compromised.
