Zcash developers set January target for quantum-resistant payments after ‘bunker mode’ scare

Using fresh addresses keeps keys hidden before spending, and the proposed signatures are intended to protect the payment when spending makes its approval public.

Zakura’s post comes on the heels of a warning by Ethereum researcher Justin Drake, who on Thursday urged holders to prepare for a so-called “bunker mode,” warning that AI could find a shortcut through the mathematics protecting bitcoin and ether wallets “in months, not years” in the worst case.

Ethereum’s own broader migration to quantum-resistant cryptography has a target date of December 2029. No practical attack on their wallet keys has been demonstrated so far.

ZEC ended Thursday around $1,185, down about 11% over the preceding week, leading a drop among top cryptocurrencies after Drake’s post went viral on X.

Fresh addresses, revealing balance checks

Zcash has two kinds of payments. One is shielded payments, which conceal the sender, recipient and amount. Transparent payments, in contrast, work much like bitcoin BTC$83,199.58, with addresses and amounts visible on the blockchain.

About 11.96 million of the 16.98 million ZEC issued sat in the transparent pool on Thursday, roughly seven in 10 coins, according to CoinDesk’s calculation from ZecStats data. The January plan focuses on that public side of the network.