Hardy Index Quantum readiness, rated and tracked

Chain profile

AIOZ Network

AIOZ Exposed

AIOZ Network runs its own fork of Cosmos SDK v0.53.4 with Ethermint, signing accounts with Ethereum-style ECDSA on secp256k1 and validators with Ed25519, and has published no post-quantum plan.

Is AIOZ Network quantum-safe?

No. AIOZ Network is a proof-of-stake chain built on the Cosmos SDK and Tendermint consensus, with an EVM through Ethermint, which supports AIOZ's content delivery, storage and AI services. AIOZ accounts use the eth_secp256k1 key type, ECDSA on the secp256k1 curve, and one key controls both an account's aioz Bech32 address and its 0x address. Validators sign consensus votes with Ed25519, the one validator key type the chain's consensus parameters accept. A sufficiently large quantum computer running Shor's algorithm would break both. Mainnet, chain aioz_168-1, has run since 25 December 2021 and today runs node v1.8.4 on AIOZ's fork of Cosmos SDK v0.53.4. The fork's source is not public, and upstream Cosmos SDK v0.53.4 has no post-quantum key type. The Cosmos SDK added ML-DSA-65 keys in v0.55, released on 28 July 2026, but AIOZ has not moved to that release line, and none of its 40 governance proposals, its documentation or its roadmap mentions quantum computing. AIOZ also circulates as ERC-20 and BEP-20 tokens on Ethereum and BNB Chain, which those chains' signatures protect.

Where we are making a judgement call Three judgement calls. The first concerns scope rather than score. AIOZ Network is rated as a layer 1 because it runs its own Tendermint consensus on a public mainnet with its own state, but its validator set is approved: its staking parameters set accept_all_validators to false, a change made by its first governance proposal in December 2021, so a new validator joins the set only through a governance proposal that approves it, and 13 such CreateValidatorProposals have passed. A reader who treats an approved validator set as outside the index would leave AIOZ out of the index rather than score it differently; every signature scored here is the chain's own, and each is classical. The second and third are about the upstream framework. The tier and the NIST and verification scores treat the ML-DSA keys in Cosmos SDK v0.55 as framework work rather than work for AIOZ, because AIOZ maintains its own fork and nobody with authority over AIOZ has referred to them. The Cosmos Hub profile credits the same code because Cosmos Labs, which wrote it, says it is bringing the Hub's maintenance in-house; no such tie exists here. A reader who credits the upstream release as AIOZ's own would place it in Tier 4, with a deployment score of 2, and might score NIST alignment 5, migration 5 and verification 3 as the Cosmos Hub profile does, which would raise the Hardy Score from 8.5 to 23.5. The migration score of 2 rather than 1 credits that upstream mechanism and AIOZ's record of eleven passed software upgrades; at 1 the Hardy Score would be 7.0. A limit on the evidence: AIOZ publishes its node as binaries without source, so the key types are read from the live chain and from the build information the node reports, not from code.

At a glance

On mainnet today

ECDSA on secp256k1 (eth_secp256k1, Ethereum-style keys) for accounts; Ed25519 for validator consensus keys

Post-quantum scheme

None selected or proposed. ML-DSA-65 is in Cosmos SDK v0.55, which AIOZ's fork does not include.

NIST standard

None named

Readiness tier

Tier 5: Exposed. The signatures securing funds on mainnet today are quantum-vulnerable, and no public post-quantum plan, proposal or research programme addressing them could be found.

Cryptography in use

  • Account signatures ECDSA on secp256k1 eth_secp256k1 Mainnet, default Read from the chain's transaction API on 22 October 2026: all 23 Cosmos transactions in blocks 25,759,921 to 25,760,520 carry an /ethermint.crypto.v1.ethsecp256k1.PubKey, and none carries another key type. AIOZ's documentation says accounts use "Ethereum's ECDSA secp256k1 curve for keys". Read on-chain
  • Validator consensus Ed25519 Mainnet, mandatory The consensus parameters accept ed25519 as the one validator key type, and all 50 validators in the latest set use it. Read on-chain

A role not listed is not evidenced either way. Every scheme, and which other chains share it, is in the cryptography registry.

Score breakdown

Each dimension scored 0 to 10. The weight beside it is its share of the total score.
Signature scheme 0 30% Deployment stage 1 25% NIST alignment 0 15% Migration path 2 15% Exposure 2 10% Verification 2 5%
Show the weighted arithmetic and the sourced note for each dimension
No. Dimension Score Weight Contribution
1 Signature scheme 0 30% 0.0
2 Deployment stage 1 25% 2.5
3 NIST alignment 0 15% 0.0
4 Migration path 2 15% 3.0
5 Exposure 2 10% 2.0
6 Verification 2 5% 1.0
Hardy Score 8.5

1 Signature scheme 0/10, weighted 30%

Band 0: Classical signatures only on mainnet, with nothing post-quantum protecting live funds. Short-lived devnets and one-off benchmarks sit here: they demonstrate research rather than something a user can hold keys on.

AIOZ accounts sign with ECDSA on secp256k1: all 23 Cosmos transactions in mainnet blocks 25,759,921 to 25,760,520, read from the chain on 22 October 2026, carry ethsecp256k1 keys, and EVM transactions are Ethereum-signed through Ethermint. Validators sign with Ed25519. Nothing post-quantum protects AIOZ on its mainnet. source

2 Deployment stage 1/10, weighted 25%

Band 1: Tier 5: Exposed.

Tier 5: Exposed. The signatures securing AIOZ are quantum-vulnerable, and we found no post-quantum plan, proposal or research programme from AIOZ Network: none among the 40 governance proposals the chain's API returns, in its documentation or on its published roadmap. The ML-DSA work in Cosmos SDK v0.55 belongs to the upstream framework, whose maintainers have no authority over AIOZ's fork. source

3 NIST alignment 0/10, weighted 15%

Band 0 to 2: No post-quantum scheme named for the chain’s fund-protecting signatures, or a proprietary scheme with no public cryptanalysis.

No post-quantum scheme has been named for AIOZ's accounts or validators. ML-DSA-65, from the final FIPS 204, exists in Cosmos SDK v0.55, but AIOZ runs its own fork of v0.53.4, and nobody with authority over AIOZ has referred to it. source

Placement in the band The floor of the band rather than a 1 or a 2: AIOZ itself has named no scheme at any point. Crediting the upstream ML-DSA option would score a framework AIOZ has not adopted rather than the chain.

4 Migration path 2/10, weighted 15%

Band 0 to 2: No agreed migration path, or the proposals on the table would strand or freeze holder funds.

No post-quantum migration plan has been published. AIOZ's governance does ship coordinated software upgrades: eleven upgrade proposals have passed since 2022, the latest bringing v1.8.4 at block 25,872,000 on 30 October 2026. A route exists upstream, where under Cosmos SDK v0.55 a holder creates a new ML-DSA account and transfers funds to it, but none of it applies until AIOZ carries its fork onto that release line. source

Placement in the band The top of the band rather than a 1: AIOZ has a long record of governance-approved upgrades on its live mainnet, and a working mechanism exists in the framework it is built on. It cannot reach 3, because AIOZ has not acknowledged quantum migration as a problem anywhere we could find.

5 Exposure 2/10, weighted 10%

Band 0 to 2: Public keys are exposed for effectively all accounts, or a large, measured share of total supply sits in exposed addresses.

An AIOZ address is derived as on Ethereum, from the hash of the eth_secp256k1 public key, so an account that has never signed keeps its key off the chain. Every account that has sent or delegated has published its key, and a key that has signed on any EVM chain exposes the same address on AIOZ. Validator consensus keys are published by design. No measurement of the exposed share has been published. source

Placement in the band The top of the band rather than a 3: the address structure is the same as on other Ethereum-style key-hash chains, where any send or delegation reveals the key. It is not a 0 or a 1 because never-used addresses do keep their keys hidden.

6 Verification 2/10, weighted 5%

Band 0 to 2: No post-quantum component exists, or the claims rest on marketing.

No post-quantum component protects AIOZ, so there is nothing to verify. The node's source is not public either: AIOZ's aioz-node repository holds a readme and a list of binary releases. Under v1.8 neither the openness nor the closure of the classical code moves this score. source

Placement in the band The top of the band rather than a 0 or a 1: there is no post-quantum component to verify, but nothing about the chain is marketed as quantum-safe, so its position does not rest on marketing.

The deployment dimension is not a separate judgement. It is Tier 5 expressed as a number. See the tier mapping.

How it compares

All 80 rated chains on the 0 to 100 scale. AIOZ Network is marked. Select any point to open that profile.
AIOZ 8.5

Nearest chains in the ranking

The 9 chains AIOZ sits among, out of 80 rated. The last column is the gap in Hardy points from AIOZ.

Rank Chain Tier Hardy vs AIOZ
47 Kaia 5: Exposed 10.0 +1.5
48 Vaulta 5: Exposed 10.0 +1.5
49 Dogecoin 5: Exposed 9.0 +0.5
50 0G 5: Exposed 8.5 level
51 AIOZ Network this chain 5: Exposed 8.5
52 Akash Network 5: Exposed 8.5 level
53 Arweave 5: Exposed 8.5 level
54 Avalanche 5: Exposed 8.5 level
55 Bitcoin SV 5: Exposed 8.5 level

Roadmap

  1. 25 December 2021 shipped

    AIOZ Network mainnet, chain aioz_168-1, produces its first block, read from the chain's own RPC. Accounts sign with ECDSA on secp256k1 and validators with Ed25519. source

  2. 31 January 2026 shipped

    Governance proposal 36, AIOZ Network Upgrade v1.8, passes, bringing Cosmos SDK v0.53 and IBC-go v10 to mainnet at block 21,919,000. It changes no signature scheme. source

  3. 28 July 2026 shipped

    Cosmos SDK v0.55.0 is released upstream with ML-DSA-65 keys for accounts and validators. It is a framework release; AIOZ's fork remains on the v0.53 line. source

  4. 15 September 2026 shipped

    Governance proposal 39, AIOZ Network Upgrade v1.8.3, passes and takes effect at block 25,214,000 with security fixes. It changes no signature scheme. source

  5. 30 October 2026 shipped

    Governance proposal 40, AIOZ Network Upgrade v1.8.4, passes as an expedited proposal and takes effect at block 25,872,000 with security enhancements. Mainnet reports node v1.8.4-p on AIOZ's Cosmos SDK fork v0.53.4-aioz.1. It changes no signature scheme. source

  6. No plan published proposed

    A post-quantum plan for AIOZ accounts or validators, including any move of its SDK fork to a release with ML-DSA keys. None was found. source

If holders never migrate

No stated policy

AIOZ Network has published nothing about post-quantum migration, so nothing has been said about accounts that never move to post-quantum keys.

As of 22 October 2026. Published beside the score, not in it. Every chain's stance is compared on the commitments page.

Exposure

Exposure measures how much of the chain's value already sits behind a public key that an attacker can record today and break later. This is the part of the threat that a future upgrade cannot undo.

AIOZ uses Ethermint's eth_secp256k1 account model. An address is derived from the hash of the account's public key and shown both as an aioz Bech32 address and as a 0x address, so a never-used address has not published its key, but the key goes on-chain with the account's first transaction and stays there. Staking AIOZ needs a signed delegation and claiming rewards a signed withdrawal, so the AIOZ that is actively held or staked sits behind revealed keys. Keys share Ethereum's format, so a key that has signed on Ethereum or another EVM chain is published for the same address on AIOZ. Validator consensus keys are Ed25519 keys published by design, and the chain's API listed 50 validators in the latest set on 22 October 2026. AIOZ held as ERC-20 on Ethereum or BEP-20 on BNB Chain is protected by those chains' signatures, and its exposure belongs to those chains' profiles. No measurement of the exposed share of supply has been published, so the score rests on the address model.

What this rating means for you

If you hold AIOZ

AIOZ runs quantum-vulnerable signatures with no published post-quantum plan that we could find. Nothing here is urgent today, and there is also nothing scheduled to change it.

Editorial guidance from the Hardy Index.

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Questions

Is AIOZ Network quantum-safe?

No. AIOZ accounts sign with ECDSA on secp256k1 using Ethereum-style keys, and validators sign with Ed25519, both of which a large enough quantum computer would break. AIOZ has published no plan to change either.

Does the Cosmos SDK's post-quantum release protect AIOZ?

No. ML-DSA-65 keys arrived in Cosmos SDK v0.55. AIOZ runs its own fork of v0.53.4, which does not include them, so no AIOZ holder or validator can use an ML-DSA key until AIOZ moves its fork to that release and passes a software upgrade, and neither has been proposed.

Are the ERC-20 and BEP-20 AIOZ tokens covered by this profile?

No. AIOZ also circulates as an ERC-20 token on Ethereum and a BEP-20 token on BNB Chain, and AIOZ's bridge converts between them and native AIOZ. Tokens held on those chains are protected by those chains' own signatures, which their own profiles rate. This profile rates native AIOZ on AIOZ Network's mainnet.

Are AIOZ public keys already exposed?

For actively held AIOZ, yes. An address is a hash of the key and hides it until the account signs, but sending, delegating or claiming rewards reveals it, and a key that has signed on any EVM chain is visible for the same address on AIOZ. Those keys could be recorded now and attacked later by a quantum computer.

Sources

  1. AIOZ Blockchain overview AIOZ Network documentation · primary · checked 22 October 2026
  2. Technical Concepts AIOZ Network documentation · primary · checked 22 October 2026
  3. Network Information AIOZ Network documentation · primary · checked 22 October 2026
  4. Roadmap AIOZ Network documentation · primary · checked 22 October 2026
  5. Bridge AIOZ AIOZ Network documentation · primary · checked 22 October 2026
  6. aioz-node repository AIOZ Network (GitHub) · primary · checked 22 October 2026
  7. AIOZ Network mainnet information AIOZ Network (GitHub) · primary · checked 22 October 2026
  8. AIOZ mainnet transactions in block 25,760,516 AIOZ mainnet API · primary · checked 22 October 2026
  9. AIOZ consensus parameters AIOZ mainnet API · primary · checked 22 October 2026
  10. AIOZ latest validator set AIOZ mainnet API · primary · checked 22 October 2026
  11. AIOZ node information AIOZ mainnet API · primary · checked 22 October 2026
  12. AIOZ mainnet status AIOZ mainnet RPC · primary · checked 22 October 2026
  13. AIOZ governance proposals AIOZ mainnet API · primary · checked 22 October 2026
  14. AIOZ governance proposal 39: AIOZ Network Upgrade v1.8.3 AIOZ mainnet API · primary · checked 22 October 2026
  15. AIOZ governance proposal 36: AIOZ Network Upgrade v1.8 AIOZ mainnet API · primary · checked 22 October 2026
  16. AIOZ governance proposal 1: Disable AcceptAllValidators AIOZ mainnet API · primary · checked 22 October 2026
  17. AIOZ staking parameters AIOZ mainnet API · primary · checked 22 October 2026
  18. Post-quantum keys Cosmos SDK documentation (Cosmos Labs) · primary · checked 22 October 2026
  19. Cosmos SDK v0.55.0 release Cosmos SDK (GitHub) · primary · checked 22 October 2026
Cite this rating

A rating is only true as of the day an editor last reviewed it, so both forms below carry that date and the methodology version, with the date its cited sources were last checked. If you are quoting the score, quote those too.

Plain text

The Hardy Index (2026). AIOZ Network: quantum readiness assessment. Hardy Score 8.5 of 100, Tier 5: Exposed. Methodology v1.8. Last reviewed 4 November 2026; sources checked 13 November 2026. https://hardyindex.com/chains/aioz

BibTeX 
@misc{hardyindex_aioz_2026,
  author       = {{The Hardy Index}},
  title        = {AIOZ Network: quantum readiness assessment},
  year         = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://hardyindex.com/chains/aioz}},
  note         = {Hardy Score 8.5 of 100, Tier 5: Exposed. Methodology v1.8},
  urldate      = {2026-11-13}
}

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This is a security-readiness assessment, not investment advice.