Ethereum developers have submitted a draft EIP to replace the validator deposit contract so it can accept variable-length keys and credential metadata of up to 8,192 bytes each, clearing structural room for post-quantum schemes that the legacy BLS12-381 layout cannot hold. Every deposit would declare a credential scheme, with scheme zero reserved for today’s BLS format, while later EIPs would define any post-quantum key types. The contract is designed to run in three modes—disabled, BLS enabled, and BLS retired—and a one-way switch into retirement would permanently block new BLS-signed deposits, leaving existing validators unaffected. The draft would also remove the deposit-processing system in place since staking launched in 2022, shifting that function to the newer framework already handling withdrawals and validator updates, and would still require a coordinated fork across execution and consensus. A companion proposal, EIP-8141, under consideration for the Hegotá upgrade expected later this year, would let regular Ethereum accounts change cryptographic schemes without moving to a new wallet address. Roughly 42.4 million ETH worth about $104 billion remains staked under BLS keys. Authors flag that post-quantum migration is not a simple upgrade: networks are leaning toward hash-based signatures whose NIST-standardised forms approach the new size ceiling, while a May 2026 Project Eleven assessment put better-than-even odds on elliptic-curve-breaking machines by 2033, with 2030 possible, and more than 65% of ETH already sitting in addresses with exposed public keys. The Ethereum Foundation is targeting 2029 for core protocol changes. The pull request remains a draft awaiting EIP editor review, with contract addresses and activation timestamps undecided.