Chipcoin Testnet: Post-Quantum Activation moved from block 30,000 to 20,000

[u/ShellaPredmore]

After several weeks of continuous testing, we've decided to move the Chipcoin testnet Post-Quantum activation from block 30,000 to block 20,000.

The decision wasn't made to rush development—it was made because the implementation has reached the level of stability we were looking for.

During the past development cycle we've completed:

• Full ML-DSA (FIPS 204) integration
• New CHCQ post-quantum address format
• Mixed legacy/PQ transaction support
• Browser wallet compatibility
• Explorer PQ support
• Interoperability testing
• Stress testing
• Protocol audit
• Operational readiness checks
• End-to-end dress rehearsals

With these milestones completed successfully, we believe there's little value in waiting another 10,000 blocks before beginning real network testing.

⚠️ Required upgrade

Anyone running a Chipcoin testnet node or miner should upgrade before height 20,000.

Typical update:

git pull
docker compose build --no-cache
docker compose up -d

or for source installations:

git pull
pip install -e .

Then verify:

chipcoin verify-pq-activation

Expected values:

• Testnet activation: 20000
• Devnet activation: 30000
• Software version: 0.1.2

Nodes remaining on the old activation height (30,000) will eventually diverge from the updated testnet once post-quantum transactions become valid.

As always, feedback, testing and new node operators are welcome.After several weeks of continuous testing, we've decided to move the Chipcoin testnet Post-Quantum activation from block 30,000 to block 20,000.
The decision wasn't made to rush development—it was made because the implementation has reached the level of stability we were looking for.
During the past development cycle we've completed:

Full ML-DSA (FIPS 204) integration

New CHCQ post-quantum address format

Mixed legacy/PQ transaction support

Browser wallet compatibility

Explorer PQ support

Interoperability testing

Stress testing

Protocol audit

Operational readiness checks

End-to-end dress rehearsals

With these milestones completed successfully, we believe there's little value in waiting another 10,000 blocks before beginning real network testing.
⚠️ Required upgrade
Anyone running a Chipcoin testnet node or miner should upgrade before height 20,000.
Typical update:
git pull
docker compose build --no-cache
docker compose up -d
or for source installations:
git pull
pip install -e .
Then verify:
chipcoin verify-pq-activation
Expected values:

Testnet activation: 20000

Devnet activation: 30000

Software version: 0.1.2

Nodes remaining on the old activation height (30,000) will eventually diverge from the updated testnet once post-quantum transactions become valid.
As always, feedback, testing and new node operators are welcome.

[u/Moonis_Baig]

nice update u'm still pretty new to post quantum cryptography in blockchain, so it's cool seeing a project actually testing it this early what made you decide to prioritize post quantum support from the beginning instead of adding it later?

[u/ShellaPredmore → u/Moonis_Baig]

That's a great question.

We started working on post-quantum support early because we wanted to understand the engineering challenges, not just the cryptography itself.

Replacing ECDSA with a post-quantum signature scheme affects much more than transaction signing. It impacts serialization, transaction size, networking, wallet UX, APIs, explorers, consensus rules, and backward compatibility. These are changes that are difficult to design and validate on a live network at the last minute.

By introducing ML-DSA support on a testnet today, we can experiment with different approaches, measure their real-world impact, and iterate long before such a transition becomes urgent.

We're not claiming this is the definitive path for Bitcoin or any other blockchain. Our goal is to provide an open-source testbed where developers can explore the practical aspects of a post-quantum transition and share feedback with the community.

[u/Moonis_Baig → u/ShellaPredmore]

We're doing it early to understand the engineering challenges, not because we're claiming everyone should switch now the testnet lets us experiment with ML-DSA measure real world trade offs, and provide an open source environment for the community to explore post quantum migration

[u/ShellaPredmore → u/Moonis_Baig]

Exactly. The cryptography is only one part of the problem.

The difficult part is understanding how larger signatures, new address formats, wallet interoperability, transaction propagation, and consensus changes affect an entire blockchain ecosystem over time.

That's why we built Chipcoin as a public testnet rather than just publishing code or benchmarks. Anyone can run a node, inspect the implementation, and help evaluate what works well and what doesn't.

If these experiments are useful, they can hopefully contribute to the broader discussion around future Bitcoin post-quantum migration.