Vulnerability of Blockchain Technologies to Quantum Attacks
It addresses security risks for blockchain users and developers, but is incremental as it applies known quantum threats to existing systems.
The paper analyzes the vulnerability of major blockchain cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum to quantum attacks, finding varying levels of risk exposure and providing a comparative assessment.
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.