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post-quantum signatures for the next ethereum
a uniswap-ready toolkit around sphincs-, built on top of vitalik buterin's reference implementation.
website · twitter · telegram · buy on uniswap · etherscan · upstream · research paper · attribution
$UNISPHINCS contract on Ethereum mainnet: 0x7a1EFc8b1ef04322cFB0CCB115336017d6c95feA
every ethereum signature today is an ecdsa signature over the secp256k1 curve. when a sufficiently large quantum computer arrives — what nist calls q-day — every secp256k1 key is solvable in minutes. every wallet exposed. every contract ownership in question.
the migration to post-quantum signatures is not optional. the only question is whether the tooling exists by the time it is needed.
sphincs- (sphincs-minus) is a minimal stateless hash-based post-quantum signature scheme, designed by vitalik buterin and explicitly optimized for evm-friendly deployment. it uses only what ethereum already has — keccak256 — and nothing it doesn't.
| spec | sphincs- | ecdsa (today) |
|---|---|---|
| signature size | 944 bytes | 65 bytes |
| public key | variable | 33 bytes |
| security level | nist L1 (128-bit) | 128-bit classical |
| quantum-secure? | yes | no |
| primitive | keccak256 / sha3-256 | secp256k1 ecdlp |
| stateless | yes | yes |
| formally verified | yes (lean 4) | partial |
# generate a keypair
python sphincs_minus.py keygen
# sign a message
python sphincs_minus.py sign 0x<priv> "hello, post-quantum" /tmp/sig.bin
# verify
python sphincs_minus.py verify 0x<pub> "hello, post-quantum" /tmp/sig.bin
# → VERIFIED
# tamper detection
python sphincs_minus.py verify 0x<pub> "tampered" /tmp/sig.bin
# → INVALIDformal verification via lean 4:
lake build Examples.SphincsMinus.CLI├── sphincs_minus.py # reference python implementation (upstream)
├── SphincsMinus.lean # formal verification in lean 4 (upstream)
├── SphincsMinus/ # supporting lean modules (upstream)
├── test_vector.json # known-answer test vectors (upstream)
├── verify_test_vector.py # test vector runner (upstream)
├── lakefile.lean # lean build manifest (upstream)
├── SPHINCS-_paper.md # research paper (upstream)
├── UPSTREAM_README.md # vbuterin's original readme (upstream)
│
├── README.md # you are here (added)
├── ATTRIBUTION.md # credit and provenance (added)
├── LICENSE # mit, for additions only (added)
└── site/ # next.js landing (added)
every file marked upstream is the work of vitalik buterin and the sphincs- paper authors. see ATTRIBUTION.md for full provenance.
- public fork + attribution
- landing page with quantum-eta timer and live signing demo
- browser-based playground (sign / verify in webcrypto)
- $UNISPHINCS token launched on Ethereum mainnet
- typescript sdk wrapping the python reference
- solidity verifier contract
- gas benchmarks vs ecdsa precompile
- eip draft proposal
- ethereum wallet integration spec
- security audit of the sdk and verifier
contributions welcome on any line item. open an issue first if it is non-trivial.
the cryptography is not ours. unisphincs is a fork-and-package effort.
cite the sphincs- paper, not unisphincs, when discussing the cryptography itself.
a minimal post-quantum stateless hash-based signature scheme optimized for evm-friendly deployment.
—
vbuterin/sphincsminus, may 2026
if vitalik buterin or any of the original authors request changes or attribution adjustments, we comply immediately. see ATTRIBUTION.md.
mit for additions: README.md, ATTRIBUTION.md, LICENSE, site/, and any future sdk/ or examples/.
upstream content (sphincs_minus.py, SphincsMinus.lean, lean modules, test vectors, paper, original readme) remains the work of vitalik buterin and the sphincs- paper authors and is not relicensed by unisphincs.