(Standard.co.uk) Blockchain, cryptocurrencies, NFTs and decentralised finance have become common terms, with blockchain now hailed as an extremely secure and much faster method of recording transactions due to the computational intensity of attempting to break it.
But in a dynamic cyber environment, is this $2.7 trillion dollar market really future-proof and secure?
The short answer is no.
With every innovation in quantum computing, the threat to blockchain increases.
There are two main issues that face the technology, the first being its reliance on a form of encryption known as public key cryptography; and second, its reliance on a type of algorithm called a hash function.
The main near-term issue facing the chain comes from the threat to the hashing algorithm from quantum computing or quantum accelerated hardware. There are a few issues with the hash-method, however, the main issue facing these chains is that a quantum computer will be able to solve for these hashes at a much faster rate than any computational-based approach, thereby taking ownership of a network. Significant progress has been made in the past two years on a type of quantum algorithm called Grover’s algorithm, which poses the greatest risk to the network as a fully well error-corrected quantum computer is not needed.
research has shown that the deployment of post quantum safe algorithms in today’s blockchain architectures is not possible without a huge increase in transaction costs sometimes outweighing the value of the transaction.
Blockchain developers understand the challenge today, and as has been shown need to start the work of preparing their systems by integrating post-quantum methods into their infrastructure and adopt best practice techniques to ensure that they are prepared for a quantum world.
Threat to Blockchain increases with every innovation in quantum computing
