Paper 2021/967 Original: eprint.iacr.org/2021/967 ↗
Assessment of Quantum Threat To Bitcoin and Derived Cryptocurrencies
Abstract
All cryptocurrencies are not the same. Today, they share a common quantum vulnerability through use of non-quantum safe Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) digital signatures yet they have very different risks of quantum attack. The risk of attack for a cryptocurrency depends on a number of identified factors such as the block interval time, the vulnerability to an attack that delays the time for an unprocessed transaction to be completed and the behaviour of a cryptocurrency user to increase the cost of a quantum computer attack. Shor’s algorithm can be used to break ECDSA signatures with a quantum computer. This research addresses the two questions: When will a quantum computer be powerful enough to execute Shor's algorithm? How fast would a quantum computer need to be to break a specific cryptocurrency? In this paper we observe that by benchmarking the speed of circuits and the time for quantum addition on quantum computers we can determine when there is a potential threat to a specific cryptocurrency.
Metadata
- Available format(s)
PDF- Category
- Applications
- Publication info
- Preprint.
- History
- 2021-07-22: last updated
- 2021-07-22: published
- Short URL
- https://ia.cr/2021/967
- License
- https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
BibTeX
@misc{cryptoeprint:2021/967,
author = {Stephen Holmes and Liqun Chen},
title = {Assessment of Quantum Threat To Bitcoin and Derived Cryptocurrencies},
howpublished = {Cryptology {ePrint} Archive, Paper 2021/967},
year = {2021},
url = {https://eprint.iacr.org/2021/967}
}