---
title: Four layer 1s enter the index, and one is held back for want of a readable source
description: Internet Computer, Bittensor, Cronos and MemeCore now have ratings. All four are Exposed. Canton stays uncovered until we can read a primary source.
url: "https://hardyindex.com/news/four-layer-1s-added-under-the-coverage-rule"
section: What changed
type: index-change
published: 2026-08-30
updated: 2026-08-30
chains: internet-computer, bittensor, cronos, memecore
methodology_version: 1.4
---

# Four layer 1s enter the index, and one is held back for want of a readable source

**Internet Computer, Bittensor, Cronos and MemeCore are now rated. All four are Exposed: none has published a post-quantum roadmap, proposal or research programme covering its own signatures. Nothing about these networks changed this month. What changed is that we looked, and the absence of a plan is the finding.**

*Published 30 August 2026. The rating below is current as of 2 October 2026. This is a security-readiness assessment, not investment advice.*

We ran the inclusion rule against live market sizes instead of memory, and it produced four new rows.

## What moved

The inclusion rule we published earlier this month says which chains belong in the index. Applying it properly means checking it against live market capitalisations, not against a list of chains that come to mind. Once stablecoins, tokens, oracles and layer 2s are filtered out under the [scope boundary](https://hardyindex.com/about#which-chains), five of the twenty-five largest layer 1s had no row here. Four now do.

**Where this stands today.**

- [Internet Computer](https://hardyindex.com/chains/internet-computer): Tier 5: Exposed, Hardy Score 14.5 of 100.
- [Bittensor](https://hardyindex.com/chains/bittensor): Tier 5: Exposed, Hardy Score 11.0 of 100.
- [Cronos](https://hardyindex.com/chains/cronos): Tier 5: Exposed, Hardy Score 8.5 of 100.
- [MemeCore](https://hardyindex.com/chains/memecore): Tier 5: Exposed, Hardy Score 8.5 of 100.

As rated by the Hardy Index, current as of 2 October 2026. Ratings change when the evidence does, and every change is recorded at https://hardyindex.com/changelog.md.

The signature picture in each case is ordinary. Bittensor uses sr25519, the Substrate default. Cronos uses ECDSA on secp256k1 for EVM accounts, Cosmos SDK secp256k1 for native ones, and Ed25519 for validator identities. MemeCore inherits ECDSA on secp256k1 from Ethereum Virtual Machine compatibility. All of these are broken by a large enough quantum computer running Shor's algorithm, which is the same position most of the market is in.

> **What this does not mean.** No new weakness was discovered in any of these four networks. A rating appearing for the first time is a statement about our coverage, not about a change on chain.

## Internet Computer is the one worth reading

Internet Computer is different because of what is exposed and how. Chain-key cryptography rests on BLS for consensus, certification and randomness, and on threshold ECDSA and threshold Schnorr for canister keys. The subnet public key that lets any client verify a certified response is published by design. It cannot be withheld, because publishing it is the point.

So the usual mitigation of not reusing addresses and keeping public keys off chain does not apply here in the same way. If you want the background on why exposed public keys matter before a quantum computer exists, see [harvest now, decrypt later](https://hardyindex.com/guides/harvest-now-decrypt-later).

DFINITY's chief scientist has said in public, on the project forum, that the network was built with crypto agility and that replacement algorithms would go to the NNS at the appropriate time. That is a real statement from a real cryptographer and we do not dismiss it. It is also not a proposal, a programme or a date, and one of those three is what the next rung up asks for. The same reading is why several other chains sit where they sit.

## Canton is held back, not rated

Canton Network is the only chain inside the twenty-five largest that we do not cover. Secondary write-ups report Ed25519 by default with ECDSA over P-256 and P-384 supported. That would be an unremarkable quantum-vulnerable position and probably an easy row to write.

We could not read it at the source. Every version of the security documentation stating those schemes served a navigation shell rather than the text. Publishing a signature assessment from a search-engine summary of a page we could not open would break the rule that every data point carries a primary source. The rule is worth more than the row, so the row waits.

Other names people expect are absent for a simpler reason: Cosmos Hub, Kaspa, Ethereum Classic, Mina, Filecoin, Sei, Injective and Celestia all sit outside the top twenty-five layer 1s by size, and none has a published post-quantum position we could find. A chain that meets none of the three tests is absent because nothing about its quantum position is yet in question. If you have a source that says otherwise, send it.

## If you hold one of these

Nothing about your holdings changed today. Your keys are as safe or as vulnerable as they were last week. What you have now is a written position you can check, argue with, and watch.

Three things are worth doing with that.

- Read the row itself, not the tier label. The detail says which curve signs what, and that is what a migration would have to replace.
- Watch for the specific thing that would move any of these four: a named scheme, a proposal number, or a funded programme aimed at the chain's own signatures. Vague agility talk is not that.
- If you want to compare, [most quantum resistant blockchain](https://hardyindex.com/guides/most-quantum-resistant-blockchain) sets out what the higher rungs actually require.

We will update these rows when the evidence changes, and we will say so in the [changelog](https://hardyindex.com/changelog) when we do.

## Where to go next

- [Internet Computer: the full rating](https://hardyindex.com/chains/internet-computer.md): every dimension score, with the source behind each one.
- [Bittensor: the full rating](https://hardyindex.com/chains/bittensor.md): every dimension score, with the source behind each one.
- [Cronos: the full rating](https://hardyindex.com/chains/cronos.md): every dimension score, with the source behind each one.
- [MemeCore: the full rating](https://hardyindex.com/chains/memecore.md): every dimension score, with the source behind each one.
- [Is my crypto safe from quantum computers?](https://hardyindex.com/guides/is-my-crypto-safe-from-quantum-computers.md): If you have seen the scary headlines about quantum computers and crypto, here is the calm version. What is true, what it means for the coins you hold, and what is worth doing about it.
- [Which is the most quantum-resistant blockchain?](https://hardyindex.com/guides/most-quantum-resistant-blockchain.md): One question, one answer, with the working shown. This page is a summary of the Hardy Index, which is the live ranking behind it.
- [Harvest now, decrypt later: what it means for your crypto](https://hardyindex.com/guides/harvest-now-decrypt-later.md): This is the reason experts say the quantum threat is already here, even though the machine that would carry it out is not. It is simpler than it sounds.

## Sources

Every dated event above carries its own primary source. These are those sources, checked on the dates shown.

1. [Which chains the index covers](https://hardyindex.com/about#which-chains): Hardy Index (primary, checked 30 August 2026)
2. [Chain-key cryptography](https://docs.internetcomputer.org/concepts/chain-key-cryptography/): Internet Computer documentation (primary, checked 30 August 2026)
3. [What is ICP's post-quantum migration plan for threshold BLS and BLS-based randomness?](https://forum.dfinity.org/t/what-is-icps-post-quantum-migration-plan-for-threshold-bls-and-bls-based-randomness/75099): DFINITY Developer Forum (primary, checked 30 August 2026)
4. [FIPS 204: Module-Lattice-Based Digital Signature Standard](https://csrc.nist.gov/pubs/fips/204/final): NIST (primary, checked 30 August 2026)
5. [Bittensor documentation](https://bittensor.com/docs): Bittensor (primary, checked 30 August 2026)
6. [subtensor source repository](https://github.com/RaoFoundation/subtensor): GitHub (primary, checked 30 August 2026)
7. [Cronos documentation](https://docs.cronos.com/): Cronos (primary, checked 30 August 2026)
8. [cronos source repository](https://github.com/crypto-org-chain/cronos): GitHub (primary, checked 30 August 2026)
9. [Go-MemeCore source repository](https://github.com/memecore-foundation/Go-MemeCore): GitHub (primary, checked 30 August 2026)
10. [MemeCore documentation](https://docs.memecore.com/): MemeCore (primary, checked 30 August 2026)
11. [MemeCore launches layer 1 blockchain to structure the meme coin economy](https://cryptoslate.com/press-releases/memecore-launches-layer-1-blockchain-to-structure-the-meme-coin-economy/): CryptoSlate (press release) (secondary, checked 30 August 2026)

---
Cite as: The Hardy Index, "Four layer 1s enter the index, and one is held back for want of a readable source", https://hardyindex.com/news/four-layer-1s-added-under-the-coverage-rule, published 30 August 2026.