StarkWare Tests Quantum-Resistant Bitcoin Transaction on Mainnet

StarkWare researcher Avihu Levy has successfully tested an experimental quantum-resistant Bitcoin transaction on the mainnet, marking a significant milestone in the cryptocurrency's quest for protection against potential quantum attacks. The transaction was confirmed in block 964,199 and spent a 10,000-satoshi output protected by Levy's Quantum Safe Bitcoin (QSB) scheme.

Levy's QSB method combines hash-based one-time signatures with computational searches that bind an authorization to a specific transaction. This construction is designed to prevent forgery even if a quantum computer breaks the elliptic-curve cryptography used by Bitcoin.

The test demonstrates that Bitcoin's existing consensus rules can accommodate one form of quantum-resistant spending without a protocol change, although Levy has emphasized that this method should be considered a last-resort measure rather than a replacement for protocol-level protections. The process took hours of computation and cost 'low hundreds of dollars,' according to StarkWare spokesperson Nathan Jeffay.

StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson expressed optimism about the prospects of implementing quantum-resistant cryptography across the network, stating that he believes 'a soft fork should happen' in the future. However, Levy's QSB transactions are currently classified as nonstandard under Bitcoin Core's default relay policies, requiring them to be submitted directly through MARA's Slipstream service.