A Post-Quantum Future for Let's Encrypt
Let's Encrypt is advancing towards a post-quantum-safe Web PKI using Merkle Tree Certificates (MTCs). This approach aims to enhance authentication without compromising speed and reliability. The urgency for post-quantum solutions is increasing as major organizations set timelines for transitioning to new cryptographic standards.
- ▪Let's Encrypt is committed to implementing post-quantum authentication through Merkle Tree Certificates.
- ▪Major organizations like Google and Cloudflare are planning to migrate to post-quantum algorithms by 2029.
- ▪The Web PKI faces challenges in adopting post-quantum signatures due to the larger size of new algorithms compared to current standards.
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Blog A Post-Quantum Future for Let's Encrypt By Andrew Gabbitas · June 3, 2026 Let’s Encrypt is committed to a post-quantum-safe Web PKI. The path we’re planning to take is Merkle Tree Certificates (“MTCs”), a new approach that adds post-quantum authentication to the web without sacrificing the speed and reliability that have made TLS universal. This post is about these plans and why we believe MTCs are worth pursuing as a key to a post-quantum future. An increasingly urgent problem For much of the last several years, the conversation about post-quantum cryptography has been a conversation about encryption. The reasoning was straightforward: an attacker who records encrypted traffic today might be able to decrypt it years from now once quantum computers can break the underlying math.
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