StarkWare Executes First Quantum-Resistant Bitcoin Transaction on Mainnet
A team at StarkWare has successfully executed the first Bitcoin transaction on the mainnet that is resistant to quantum computer attacks, without requiring any changes to Bitcoin's consensus rules. The transaction used a technique called 'signature grinding' to protect against potential signature forging by powerful quantum computers.
The achievement was made possible through the work of Avihu Levy, head of applications at StarkWare, who proposed an approach called 'Quantum Safe Bitcoin (QSB)' in April. QSB combines Bitcoin's current elliptic curve cryptography with a structure capable of withstanding quantum computer attacks.
However, the computational burden of signature grinding is substantial, taking several hours to generate a single transaction. The team also noted that this approach bypasses the public mempool and must be delivered directly to miners willing to process them.
The transaction was mined by Bitcoin mining company MARA through its 'Slipstream' service, which connects non-standard transactions directly to miners. StarkWare emphasized that this achievement does not fundamentally solve Bitcoin's quantum computing problem, but rather provides a safeguard until a permanent protocol upgrade is implemented.