diff --git a/client/internal/pqkem/kem.go b/client/internal/pqkem/kem.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c2961eced
--- /dev/null
+++ b/client/internal/pqkem/kem.go
@@ -0,0 +1,165 @@
+// Package pqkem is a spike (NET-1406) for a post-quantum pre-shared-key exchange
+// that could replace Rosenpass. It performs an X25519MLKEM768 hybrid key
+// encapsulation and derives a 32-byte WireGuard PSK.
+//
+// The exchange is a single round trip designed to ride the (already
+// authenticated) Signal offer/answer channel:
+//
+//	initiator --Offer(1216B)--> responder
+//	initiator <--Answer(1120B)-- responder
+//
+// Both sides then hold the same PSK, which is bound to the two peers' identities
+// (their WireGuard static public keys) so the derived key cannot be transplanted
+// to a different peer pair even if the transport authentication were bypassed.
+//
+// Combiner note: this follows the IETF hybrid layout (X25519 ‖ ML-KEM on the
+// wire; ML-KEM_ss ‖ X25519_ss into the KDF) from
+// draft-kwiatkowski-tls-ecdhe-mlkem. The spike uses SHA-256 as the KDF; a
+// production version should use HKDF with the RFC labels — see TODO below.
+package pqkem
+
+import (
+	"crypto/ecdh"
+	"crypto/mlkem"
+	"crypto/rand"
+	"crypto/sha256"
+	"fmt"
+)
+
+const (
+	// OfferSize is the initiator message: X25519 public key ‖ ML-KEM-768 encapsulation key.
+	OfferSize = 32 + mlkem.EncapsulationKeySize768 // 1216
+	// AnswerSize is the responder message: ML-KEM-768 ciphertext ‖ X25519 public key.
+	AnswerSize = mlkem.CiphertextSize768 + 32 // 1120
+
+	pskLabel = "netbird-pq-psk-v1"
+)
+
+// PSK is the 32-byte pre-shared key handed to WireGuard.
+type PSK [32]byte
+
+// Binding identifies the peer pair the PSK is derived for. Callers set both
+// WireGuard static public keys; the order does not matter (it is canonicalised).
+type Binding struct {
+	LocalWgPub  []byte
+	RemoteWgPub []byte
+}
+
+// Initiator holds the ephemeral secrets between Offer and Finish.
+type Initiator struct {
+	x25519  *ecdh.PrivateKey
+	mlkemDK *mlkem.DecapsulationKey768
+	offer   []byte
+}
+
+// NewInitiator generates the ephemeral X25519 + ML-KEM-768 keypairs.
+func NewInitiator() (*Initiator, error) {
+	x, err := ecdh.X25519().GenerateKey(rand.Reader)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("x25519 keygen: %w", err)
+	}
+	dk, err := mlkem.GenerateKey768()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("ml-kem keygen: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	offer := make([]byte, 0, OfferSize)
+	offer = append(offer, x.PublicKey().Bytes()...)
+	offer = append(offer, dk.EncapsulationKey().Bytes()...)
+
+	return &Initiator{x25519: x, mlkemDK: dk, offer: offer}, nil
+}
+
+// Offer returns the initiator message to send over Signal.
+func (i *Initiator) Offer() []byte {
+	return i.offer
+}
+
+// Finish consumes the responder's answer and derives the PSK.
+func (i *Initiator) Finish(answer []byte, b Binding) (PSK, error) {
+	if len(answer) != AnswerSize {
+		return PSK{}, fmt.Errorf("answer: got %d bytes, want %d", len(answer), AnswerSize)
+	}
+	ct := answer[:mlkem.CiphertextSize768]
+	peerX := answer[mlkem.CiphertextSize768:]
+
+	ssMLKEM, err := i.mlkemDK.Decapsulate(ct)
+	if err != nil {
+		return PSK{}, fmt.Errorf("ml-kem decapsulate: %w", err)
+	}
+	pub, err := ecdh.X25519().NewPublicKey(peerX)
+	if err != nil {
+		return PSK{}, fmt.Errorf("parse peer x25519: %w", err)
+	}
+	ssX, err := i.x25519.ECDH(pub)
+	if err != nil {
+		return PSK{}, fmt.Errorf("x25519 ecdh: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	return derivePSK(ssMLKEM, ssX, i.offer, answer, b), nil
+}
+
+// Respond consumes an initiator offer, produces the answer, and derives the PSK.
+func Respond(offer []byte, b Binding) (answer []byte, psk PSK, err error) {
+	if len(offer) != OfferSize {
+		return nil, PSK{}, fmt.Errorf("offer: got %d bytes, want %d", len(offer), OfferSize)
+	}
+	peerX := offer[:32]
+	peerEK := offer[32:]
+
+	ek, err := mlkem.NewEncapsulationKey768(peerEK)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, PSK{}, fmt.Errorf("parse peer ml-kem key: %w", err)
+	}
+	ssMLKEM, ct := ek.Encapsulate()
+
+	x, err := ecdh.X25519().GenerateKey(rand.Reader)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, PSK{}, fmt.Errorf("x25519 keygen: %w", err)
+	}
+	pub, err := ecdh.X25519().NewPublicKey(peerX)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, PSK{}, fmt.Errorf("parse peer x25519: %w", err)
+	}
+	ssX, err := x.ECDH(pub)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, PSK{}, fmt.Errorf("x25519 ecdh: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	answer = make([]byte, 0, AnswerSize)
+	answer = append(answer, ct...)
+	answer = append(answer, x.PublicKey().Bytes()...)
+
+	// derivePSK uses the same argument order on both sides; the responder's local
+	// binding is the mirror of the initiator's, canonicalised inside derivePSK.
+	return answer, derivePSK(ssMLKEM, ssX, offer, answer, b), nil
+}
+
+// derivePSK combines the two shared secrets and binds the result to the full
+// transcript (offer ‖ answer) and the canonicalised peer identities.
+//
+// TODO(NET-1406): replace the SHA-256 concat with the RFC HKDF combiner
+// (crypto/hkdf, Go 1.24+) and proper labels before this leaves spike status.
+func derivePSK(ssMLKEM, ssX, offer, answer []byte, b Binding) PSK {
+	lo, hi := canonicalPair(b.LocalWgPub, b.RemoteWgPub)
+
+	h := sha256.New()
+	h.Write([]byte(pskLabel))
+	h.Write(ssMLKEM)
+	h.Write(ssX)
+	h.Write(offer)
+	h.Write(answer)
+	h.Write(lo)
+	h.Write(hi)
+
+	var psk PSK
+	copy(psk[:], h.Sum(nil))
+	return psk
+}
+
+func canonicalPair(a, b []byte) (lo, hi []byte) {
+	if string(a) <= string(b) {
+		return a, b
+	}
+	return b, a
+}
diff --git a/client/internal/pqkem/kem_test.go b/client/internal/pqkem/kem_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3bdc99635
--- /dev/null
+++ b/client/internal/pqkem/kem_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+package pqkem
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+var (
+	wgA = []byte("peer-A-wireguard-pubkey-32bytes!")
+	wgB = []byte("peer-B-wireguard-pubkey-32bytes!")
+)
+
+func TestExchange_DerivesMatchingPSK(t *testing.T) {
+	init, err := NewInitiator()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	require.Len(t, init.Offer(), OfferSize)
+
+	answer, pskB, err := Respond(init.Offer(), Binding{LocalWgPub: wgB, RemoteWgPub: wgA})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Len(t, answer, AnswerSize)
+
+	pskA, err := init.Finish(answer, Binding{LocalWgPub: wgA, RemoteWgPub: wgB})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	require.Equal(t, pskB, pskA, "both sides must derive the same PSK")
+	require.NotEqual(t, PSK{}, pskA, "PSK must not be zero")
+}
+
+func TestExchange_PSKBoundToPeerIdentities(t *testing.T) {
+	init, err := NewInitiator()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// responder computes with the honest pair...
+	_, pskHonest, err := Respond(init.Offer(), Binding{LocalWgPub: wgB, RemoteWgPub: wgA})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	// ...a second responder run with a different peer identity yields a different PSK,
+	// even though the KEM material would otherwise combine identically.
+	wgC := []byte("peer-C-wireguard-pubkey-32bytes!")
+	_, pskWrong, err := Respond(init.Offer(), Binding{LocalWgPub: wgC, RemoteWgPub: wgA})
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	require.NotEqual(t, pskHonest, pskWrong, "PSK must be bound to the peer pair")
+}
+
+func TestExchange_RejectsMalformedMessages(t *testing.T) {
+	init, err := NewInitiator()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	_, _, err = Respond(init.Offer()[:10], Binding{})
+	require.Error(t, err)
+
+	_, err = init.Finish([]byte("too short"), Binding{})
+	require.Error(t, err)
+}
+
+// TestExchange_ReportSizesAndTiming is a spike measurement, not a pass/fail gate.
+// Run with: go test -run TestExchange_ReportSizesAndTiming -v ./client/internal/pqkem/
+func TestExchange_ReportSizesAndTiming(t *testing.T) {
+	const iters = 200
+
+	var tInit, tResp, tFinish time.Duration
+	for i := 0; i < iters; i++ {
+		s0 := time.Now()
+		init, err := NewInitiator()
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		tInit += time.Since(s0)
+
+		s1 := time.Now()
+		answer, _, err := Respond(init.Offer(), Binding{LocalWgPub: wgB, RemoteWgPub: wgA})
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		tResp += time.Since(s1)
+
+		s2 := time.Now()
+		_, err = init.Finish(answer, Binding{LocalWgPub: wgA, RemoteWgPub: wgB})
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		tFinish += time.Since(s2)
+	}
+
+	t.Logf("wire sizes:   offer=%d B   answer=%d B   (Rosenpass static pubkey ~524160 B)", OfferSize, AnswerSize)
+	t.Logf("total on-wire per handshake: %d B  (~%.0fx smaller than RP static key)", OfferSize+AnswerSize, 524160.0/float64(OfferSize+AnswerSize))
+	t.Logf("avg NewInitiator (keygen): %s", tInit/iters)
+	t.Logf("avg Respond (encaps+dh):   %s", tResp/iters)
+	t.Logf("avg Finish (decaps+dh):    %s", tFinish/iters)
+	t.Logf("avg full handshake CPU:    %s", (tInit+tResp+tFinish)/iters)
+}