Binance just did something most blockchains are still avoiding: it tested a quantum-proof BNB Chain. And it worked. The problem? Transactions got 40% slower.
On May 19, 2026, Binance’s BNB Chain team released results from a post-quantum cryptography test. The goal was simple — see if the network could survive a future where quantum computers break today’s encryption. The answer is yes. But there’s a trade off.
What they changed:
Right now, BNB Chain, like most blockchains, uses ECDSA for transaction signatures and BLS12-381 for validator votes. Both rely on elliptic-curve cryptography. Good news: quantum computers running Shor’s algorithm could eventually crack it.
So Binance swapped those systems for quantum-resistant alternatives. The test worked. Transactions still went through, validators still reached consensus, and the chain stayed secure.
But those new signatures are much larger. That means more data has to move across the network for every transaction.
The result: throughput dropped from 4,973 transactions per second to 2,997 TPS. That’s roughly a 40% slowdown.