(IJCH) Too Few Quantum Resistant Cryptocurrencies - More Coming Soon
IJCH - Inside JaiChai's Head (meaning: My warped, personal opinions and musings)
From the Author
Salutations. I am JaiChai. And if I haven't had the pleasure to make your acquaintance before, it's always nice to meet you now.
Supposedly, the advent of wide-scale quantum computing is still decades away.
The general public isn't panicking because they don't believe a quantum computer attack is happening anytime soon; hence, not an immediate threat.
But is that really the case?
Apparently, the NSA doesn't want to be caught with their pants down and isn't waiting to be taken by surprise.
In fact, they no longer endorse the SHA-256 (ECDSA) algorithm for cryptographic security. The popular NTRU (short for NTRUencrypt), which employs lattice-based cryptography, is fast becoming the successor to SHA-256.
Whoops, SHA-256 (ECDSA) is what the majority of today's cryptocurrencies use!
Hypothetically speaking, if a wealthy nation, global criminal organization, or reclusive billionaire secretly builds a functional quantum computer, all but a handfull of cryptocurrencies would easily be hacked and immediately plundered.
That scenario would be pretty ugly, indeed; basically resulting in global financial chaos.
Two and a half years ago, a team of scientists publicly announced that quantum computers would render Bitcoin insecure by calculating the private key from the public one - not in the currently estimated time span for binary computers of centuries, not in decades, not in a few years, and not even in hours, but in a mere couple of minutes.
But since then, some solid progress in the field of securing cryptocurrencies against attacks by quantum computers has been made; resulting in our current landscape: A few quantum resistant cryptocurrencies and more coming soon.
Not a Piece of Cake
It's difficult to create cryptographically quantum resistant algorithms for securing cryptocurrency; much less adapt existing ones and roll them out for every current platform or new ICO.
Presently, there aren't many world class cryptography experts, much fewer Quantum Computer Language (QCL) programmers, far fewer QCL programmers versed in cryptography, and yet even a smaller number of cryptographically savvy QCL programmers who also know how to code a blockchain or a DAG (Directed Acyclic Graph) for cryptocurrency consensus mechanisms.
Needless to say, the dearth of qualified programmers and the national security/billion dollar high-stakes nature of the space makes the creation and verification of cryptographically "quantum secure" algorithms an urgent, high-priority - albeit, a painstakingly slow enterprise.
In short, when it comes to creating and combining quantum resistant cryptography with cryptocurrency, "It's definitely not a piece of cake".
Until an algorithm is tested against an actual quantum computer attack, "Quantum Resistance" algorithms - although working well "on paper" - haven't proven themselves in real life battle.
Stated differently, at present, we can only say that certain algorithms are theoretically "Quantum Resistant"; while acknowledging that nothing is truly "Quantum Proof" until success is achieved in the real world.
As such, no one can be certain that any quantum resistant algorithm is truly "battle ready".
Technical Snapshot: Quantum-Breakable vs. Quantum-Secure
The following image displays a snapshot of the popular, but "Quantum-Breakable" cryptographic security solutions in use today and the methods employed to achieve quantum security in other algorithms deemed as "Quantum Resistant" (or "Quantum Secure") by today's cryptographic security experts.
"Public Notice: Entry Requires Proof of Quantum Resistance"
The Elite Quantum Resistance Club has only three vetted members (so far).
Although many are rumored to be quantum resistant, to date, only these three cryptocurrencies are known to have a recognized mechanism for quantum resistance.
This elite triad includes:
IOTA - which has a DAG called "The Tangle" that runs the MCMC (Markov Chain Monte Carlo) algorithm and follows the Winternitz One-Time Signature scheme.
QRL (Quantum Resistant Ledger) - that employs a hash-based, Extended Merkle signature scheme called XMSS.
NXS (Nexus) - who has adopted a two-pronged SHA3 approach that uses both Skein and Keccak protocols to balance out any collisions that may occur in the other.
Honorable Mentions
A few cryptocurrencies made the "Honorable Mention" List (meaning: "close, but no cigar", or soon to be quantum resistant).
These "soon to be" cryptocurrencies will gain quantum resistant status through one of two avenues - by using their own proprietary algorithms or most likely, through incorporating the specific quantum resistant NTRU iteration (Note: Not all versions of NTRU are considered secure enough against quantum attacks).
The cryptocurrencies likely to become full-fledged members of "The Quantum Resistant Cryptocurrency Club" in the very near future are: NEO (as soon as they specify which NTRU is used), Ethereum, Hcash and Byteball (maybe Mochimo, a rather private group that I couldn't crack and get much more information than what's on their website).
The Next Quantum Resistant Cryptocurrencies?
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By JaiChai
Thanks for stopping by.
About the Author
He is a retired U.S. Military veteran. Believing that school was too boring, he dropped out of High School early; only to earn an AA, BS and MBA in less than 4 years much later in life – while working full-time as a Navy/Marine Corps Medic.
In spite of a fear of heights and deep water, he freefall parachuted out of airplanes and performed diving ops in very deep, open ocean water.
He spends his days on an island paradise with his teenage daughter, longtime girlfriend and three dogs.
