Google and Cloudflare Testing Merkle Tree Certificates for TLS

Google and Cloudflare are testing Merkle Tree Certificates (MTC) as an alternative to traditional TLS certificate signatures. This effort aims to address the increased size of post-quantum-safe certificates, which could bloat TLS handshakes. The IETF’s PLANTS group is developing the method, and testing will involve Chrome users connecting to specific Cloudflare-hosted sites. Cloudflare and Google have published announcements explaining the approach.