Ethereum research group Ethlabs said Wednesday it will withdraw its proposal to accelerate block production from the planned Hegotá upgrade, shifting its focus to preparing the network for quantum-related threats by 2027. According to Cointelegraph, Ethlabs presented “pqai27,” a proposed roadmap intended to protect Ethereum from risks posed by quantum computing and increasingly capable artificial intelligence, and argued that unrelated upgrades should be reconsidered. The group had previously supported Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP)-8198, known as Quick Slots, which would initially reduce Ethereum’s slot time from 12 seconds to 10 seconds. Ethlabs said it would redirect resources toward pqai27 while continuing to pursue faster slots in 2028. The proposal changes the group’s near-term priorities for Hegotá, but it has not abandoned its effort to speed up slots. Ethlabs said work on the quantum-readiness roadmap should take precedence over unrelated changes to the network.

For Hegotá, Ethlabs said the planned FOCIL censorship-resistance feature should move forward only if it does not put quantum readiness at risk. The group described Frame Transactions, which would allow more flexible account authentication, as central to the proposed transition. Ethlabs also said the Glamsterdam upgrade, which is scheduled before Hegotá, should proceed as planned. Ethereum core developers have not approved the proposal, and the Ethereum Foundation’s published roadmap continues to target December 2029 for quantum resistance. At Devcon, researcher Justin Drake said he hopes to complete the transition in 2028. The timeline proposed by Ethlabs would therefore bring quantum readiness into focus earlier than the target currently published by the Foundation, though the group’s roadmap remains a proposal. Its withdrawal of the Quick Slots proposal from Hegotá is part of the shift toward that priority, while faster slots remain an objective for 2028.