StarkWare Proves Quantum-Safe Bitcoin Transaction on Mainnet
StarkWare has successfully demonstrated its Quantum-Safe Bitcoin (QSB) method by executing a transaction on the Bitcoin mainnet. The QSB scheme, developed by StarkWare researcher Avihu Levy, is designed to protect transactions from potential quantum attacks using a hash-based construction rather than relying solely on elliptic-curve cryptography.
The demonstration shows that it's possible to move coins into storage protected by this method without changing Bitcoin's consensus rules. However, QSB requires substantial offchain computation and a direct route to a miner willing to accept a nonstandard transaction. Currently, the process costs several hundred dollars in computation.
StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson emphasized that the mainnet demonstration is not a network-wide fix and leaves most Bitcoin, including Taproot and Lightning, still vulnerable to quantum attacks. He continued to support a soft fork as the preferred long-term solution for delivering broader quantum resistance across Bitcoin.