Ethereum Ends Poseidon: An 8-Year, 8-Figure Mistake
Last updated on September 25th, 2026 at 03:35 pm
Just when you thought Ethereum’s roadmap was set in stone… the foundation pulls a fast one.
They’re ditching Poseidon, the shiny new hash function everyone thought was the future of post-quantum security.
Why?
Because old-school tech just got a major upgrade… this isn’t just a minor tweak… it’s a massive pivot that ends an eight-year, eight-figure research rabbit hole & shows even the smartest minds have to adapt when the game changes.
Current State of Quantum Proofing
Anyone reading just the headline might think Ethereum is abandoning the race to harden their blockchain before the quantum threat arrives…
Nothing could be further from the truth…
Frankly Ethereum isn’t the only person in the crypto space to be working at this… I’ve recently brought you information about several such movers…
There’s Freedom Factory’s PQ1 wallet, Galaxy Digital’s $5 million pledge to quantum proof Bitcoin, BitGo recently launched a suite of tools to help mitigate the quantum threat, and let’s not forget the executive orders from President Trump surrounding quantum.
So, why this move from Ethereum?
Why Poseidon Got the Axe
For years, Poseidon was the golden child.
It was a custom hash function, designed from the ground up to be super efficient in zero-knowledge proof environments.
It was so golden in fact, the Ethereum Foundation went all in, funding research and even launching a dedicated cryptanalysis initiative to make it bulletproof.
But on August 13, researcher Justin Drake announced it’s over… the foundation is officially dropping Poseidon from the L1 roadmap and pivoting back to traditional, battle-tested hash functions like SHA & BLAKE.
“Hash-Friendly” SNARKs
The breakthrough wasn’t in finding a flaw in Poseidon… it was in a fundamental shift in SNARK technology.
Researchers developed new SNARK systems… like Binius & Flock… that work with binary computation instead of arithmetic.
This completely flipped the script… it’s no longer about building hash functions that are friendly to SNARKs… it’s about building SNARKs that are friendly to standard hashes.
These new systems can now prove roughly 1 million standard hash calls per second, a performance level that makes Poseidon’s specialized design redundant.
Simpler, Safer Future for Ethereum
This move is a huge win for simplicity and security.
By adopting standardized functions like SHA-2 or BLAKE2s, Ethereum is leveraging cryptography that has been scrutinized and trusted for decades.
It removes the need to wait for Poseidon to survive years of intense cryptanalysis, dramatically speeding up the post-quantum roadmap.
The timeline is now aggressive… a production-ready leanVM is penciled in for 2027, with deployments across the consensus, data, and execution layers targeted for 2028.
Real Cost of Innovation
Let’s be clear… at the end of the day, this wasn’t a free pivot… it was a strategic decision.
Afterall, the foundation poured eight years and tens of millions of dollars into Poseidon… unfortunately, this bet didn’t pay off as they had hoped.
But it also shows a mature willingness to cut losses and pivot to a more robust, conservative path.
In a world where AI is already breaking other complex schemes like HAWK and SQIsign… betting on something simple and proven is the smartest move you can make.
The Quantum Clock Is Ticking
The threat of quantum computers is real, and Ethereum is now on an accelerated path to defend against it.
By simplifying its cryptographic foundation, the network shrinks its attack surface and builds on a more solid base.
This pivot isn’t a setback… it’s a strategic correction.
It’s the messy, chaotic process of building the future, and it’s a reminder that in crypto, the only constant is change.
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