XRP Quantum Vulnerability Test Shows 300K Accounts with 2.4B XRP Remain Quantum Safe

Amid concerns around the growing quantum threat, an XRP validator recently shared the result of an XRPL quantum vulnerability check.

-

His findings show that about 300,000 accounts out of 7.8 million are currently safe from quantum threats. These accounts hold around 2.4 billion XRP and remain protected as their public keys remain hidden, since they have never made any transactions.

Key Points

• A vulnerability check found that about 300,000 XRPL accounts holding 2.4 billion XRP remain quantum safe.
• Only two dormant accounts holding 21 million XRP with exposed public keys present a notable risk.
• XRPL differs from Bitcoin, where large inactive wallets often have exposed keys under older formats.
• The XRPL has tested quantum-resistant systems on AlphaNet using ML-DSA (CRYSTALS-Dilithium).

XRP Has Limited Whale Risk

Vet explained that the lack of public exposure gives these 300,000 accounts an important advantage. Specifically, since their public keys are unknown, they are harder to target using quantum methods. 

He also noted that only two accounts holding a combined 21 million XRP have been inactive for over five years while still having exposed public keys. This makes these accounts more vulnerable, but the affected figure remains negligible.

According to Vet, large dormant holders on XRPL do not pose much risk. He pointed out that vulnerable inactive whale accounts are extremely rare. Most accounts on the network remain active, and even though their public keys are visible, users can update or rotate their keys if needed.

This is different from the situation with Bitcoin, where large amounts of funds often sit in inactive wallets. Some of these wallets, including those linked to Satoshi Nakamoto, have exposed public keys under older formats like pay-to-public-key (p2pk). This means XRPL may handle quantum risks differently, especially when it comes to inactive large holders.

Vet noted that this risk affects only about 0.03% of the total XRP supply. He added that there are currently no quantum computers capable of breaking public blockchains, and by the time such technology becomes a real threat, the industry will have found solutions.

XRP Dormancy Rate

Notably, at press time, the network has over 7.76 million activated addresses, with roughly 1.13 million dormant wallets. Many of these inactive wallets only hold the minimum reserve of about 10 to 20 XRP, which limits their overall impact.

Also, dormancy levels have remained steady. Accounts inactive for more than two years make up around 3.8% to 4.1% of the network and remain part of a small permanent-loss group. 

While the number of untouched accounts with hidden keys may change slightly over time, XRPL still benefits from having fewer exposed public keys in comparison with many other blockchains.

XRPL Progress Toward Quantum Resistance

The XRPL is not yet fully protected against quantum threats on its main network. It still depends mainly on traditional cryptographic systems like ECDSA (secp256k1) and Ed25519, which could be broken by quantum methods such as Shor’s algorithm.

Despite this, the network has taken early steps to prepare for future risks. One important feature is built-in key rotation, which allows users to change their signing keys without changing their wallet address. 

The XRP Ledger also uses an amendment system where validators agree on upgrades, making it easier to introduce changes compared to the slower process seen in Bitcoin.

AlphaNet Becomes Quantum Secure

In December 2025, Denis Angell from XRPL Labs announced that AlphaNet, the developer testnet, had become fully quantum secure. The network adopted CRYSTALS-Dilithium, now known as ML-DSA (ML-DSA-44/65/87 variants), which is a post-quantum signature method approved by NIST.

The system also includes Quantum Accounts, Quantum Transactions, and Quantum Consensus, allowing even validator communication to use quantum-resistant cryptography. Developers also added native smart contracts and successfully tested quantum-signed transactions.

However, this progress comes with trade-offs. Dilithium signatures are much larger, about 2,420 bytes, compared to around 64 bytes for traditional signatures. This increase affects transaction size, storage, speed, and overall network performance. Engineers are still working to improve these areas.

Ongoing Research

Work on quantum resistance continues across the XRPL ecosystem. Developers are exploring ideas like enforced key rotation and hybrid systems that combine current and post-quantum signatures during the transition. Research teams at Ripple, including contributors like Ayo, are also working on solutions, with more updates expected in the future.

Meanwhile, industry groups have started to take notice. Most recently, Grayscale highlighted XRPL and Solana as early leaders in testing post-quantum cryptography. They called these efforts a possible model for the rest of the blockchain industry, citing Google Research.