First Quantum-Safe Bitcoin Transaction Mined on Mainnet Without Consensus Changes
A significant milestone has been achieved in the development of quantum-safe Bitcoin transactions. The first Quantum-Safe Bitcoin (QSB) transaction has been mined on the mainnet without altering the network's consensus rules. This achievement is a result of research and development led by Avihu Levy, head of StarkWare's applications division, in collaboration with StarkWare engineer Tomer Giladi.
QSB transactions utilize a hash-to-signature puzzle based on RIPEMD-160 pre-image resistance to provide an additional layer of security against quantum-computing attacks. The process is costly, with Levy estimating off-chain GPU expenses at several hundred dollars per transaction.
The QSB design builds on BINOHASH and replaces a non-quantum-safe component, but it does not protect every Bitcoin output. P2PK outputs and addresses with exposed public keys are vulnerable to quantum attacks once exposed. However, holders of these outputs could theoretically move their funds into QSB before an attack.
Levy describes the design as a research prototype, acknowledging its limitations in terms of scalability and user experience. The paper concludes that Bitcoin still requires further research into more efficient and user-friendly quantum-resistant designs implemented through protocol-level changes.