Vulnerability of Blockchain Technologies to Quantum Attacks
Abstract
Quantum computation represents a threat to many cryptographic protocols in operation today. It has been estimated that by 2035, there will exist a quantum computer capable of breaking the vital cryptographic scheme RSA2048. Blockchain technologies rely on cryptographic protocols for many of their essential sub-routines. Some of these protocols, but not all, are open to quantum attacks. Here we analyze the major blockchain-based cryptocurrencies deployed today -- including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and ZCash, and determine their risk exposure to quantum attacks. We finish with a comparative analysis of the studied cryptocurrencies and their underlying blockchain technologies and their relative levels of vulnerability to quantum attacks.
- Publication:
-
arXiv e-prints
- Pub Date:
- May 2021
- arXiv:
- arXiv:2105.01815
- Bibcode:
- 2021arXiv210501815K
- Keywords:
-
- Quantum Physics;
- Computer Science - Cryptography and Security;
- Computer Science - Computers and Society;
- Computer Science - Emerging Technologies
- E-Print:
- 16 pages