First Quantum-Safe Transaction Mined on Bitcoin

A breakthrough in protecting cryptocurrency from a potential attack by a quantum computer has been announced by a cryptography and blockchain-infrastructure company.

Israel-based StarkWare revealed Aug. 26 that a quantum-safe transaction using its Quantum-Safe Bitcoin (QSB) method had been mined on the Bitcoin (BTC) mainnet, the cryptocurrency’s live production network.

"StarkWare’s announcement is significant because it demonstrates something that, until now, many people assumed would require a change to the Bitcoin protocol," explained David de Paula Santos Silva, founder and CEO of CyberX, a global cybersecurity company.

"A Bitcoin holder can now move coins into a quantum-resistant construction using Bitcoin as it exists today, without changing its consensus rules," he told TechNewsWorld.

He cautioned, however, that StarkWare's QSB method, developed by the company's general manager of applications, Avihu Levy, does not make Bitcoin itself quantum-safe. "What was demonstrated on mainnet is a specific way of protecting particular holdings against a quantum adversary," he said.

"As far as we are aware, this is the first time anyone has actually done this on mainnet instead of just writing a paper about it," added Joni Zhuleku, chief research officer at Altcoin Pro, a cryptocurrency education and coaching company in Tampa, Fla.