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Abstract

Abstract. Digital-asset custody has been built on threshold multi-party approval: no operation proceeds unless _t_ of _n_ parties approve, and fewer than _t_ compromised parties can neither authorize nor learn the authorization secret. Threshold signature schemes (TSS) have been the standard mechanism, but the post-quantum transition disrupts this model: standardized hash-based signatures resist efficient threshold signing, and lattice-based threshold protocols remain an emerging research track. We present a _dual-gate_ architecture that separates member authentication from threshold authorization. Each member signs its approval with an ordinary signature under any EUF-CMA scheme; the quorum jointly produces a _threshold seal_ from Shamir-shared secrets bound to the operation. The seal is the base instance of a programmable authorization computation: simple quorum is the minimal policy, while richer policies can evaluate secret-shared state without making the member-signature scheme part of that computation. The signature scheme is a deployment parameter: migrating from ECDSA to SLH-DSA or ML-DSA is a key rotation, not a protocol redesign, and members holding keys in commodity HSMs participate through the standard sign API. The architecture can be deployed wherever the asset-control path supports programmable verification, such as smart contracts, vault modules, or HSMs guarding a master key, and produces an enforcement-layer authorization rather than a native chain signature. Below-threshold secrecy is information-theoretic; an adversary holding _ t_ signing keys but no coefficient shares still cannot produce the seal.